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Wednesday starts with a narrow band of rain stretching from the south western peninsula through Wales and Yorkshire. During the day showery rain pushes southwards and gradually fades away, but a lot of cloud remains. The northern half of the UK has a dry and bright day.

It will be cooler than recently. Temperatures range from 11C (52F) in the north west to 18C (64F) in the south west. See the rain radar for the latest view.

Hirlam, forecast precipitation, 16:00 BST Wed 16th May

Tonight clear spells develop widely. It will be chilly and in central and northern rural areas there is a risk of ground frost.

Tomorrow a fine day is expected nationwide. Sunny spells become widespread but cloudier skies are likely at times. The south and west have a pleasantly warm day but it will be cooler in the east.

Fine weekend for most

By Friday high pressure will be centred over the UK so most areas have a dry and sunny day. The exception could be the north west where disturbances moving in from the Atlantic bring the risk of cloud and patchy spells of rain.

This Saturday sees the royal wedding at Windsor and the FA Cup final at Wembley. The weather looks set fair with spells of warm sunshine in much of the country, however in Northern Ireland and western Scotland could thicker cloud may bring drizzle.

GFS, forecast pressure and precipitation, 16:00 BST Sat 19th May

Sunday should bring more fine and warm weather to England and Wales. However outbreaks of rain probably affect Northern Ireland, Scotland and possibly parts of northern England.

Promising next week?

Current guidance suggests the fine weather will continue early next week in much of the country, but in the north west disturbances from the Atlantic lead to a greater chance of rain. Through the second half of the week more changeable weather could develop but the favoured scenario is for it to remain mostly settled.

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16 day GEFS ensembles at a glance

Mostly dry conditions are shown during the first week. Through the last third of May the risk of more changeable weather increases. View latest GEFS.