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Thursday starts wet in parts of Northern Ireland and Wales, and in western Scotland there are showers. Other areas are dry and bright. Through the day cloud and patchy outbreaks of rain spread eastwards across southern and central regions. At the same time drier and brighter conditions return to Northern Ireland and northern Wales. Northern Britain has a mix of sunny spells and blustery showers.

Temperatures range from 15C (59F) in the north west to 22C (72F) in the south east. See the rain and lightning radar for the latest view.

Meteo France Arpege, forecast rain, 16:00 BST Thu 6th September

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Tonight showery rain continues to be a risk in the north but the south becomes mostly dry. Clear spells develop allowing temperatures to fall into single figures widely. 

Tomorrow should be dry and bright in much of the country. In the north and north east there will be showers, and they could merge to give longer spells of rain in northern and eastern Scotland. It will be quite windy and cool.

Meteo France Arpege, forecast temperatures, 16:00 BST Fri 7th September

Weekend weather

The changeable theme continues this weekend. On Saturday outbreaks of rain push eastwards across Northern Ireland, Wales and much of England. Scotland and southern England could remain mostly dry. it will be cool in the wet and windy  with a risk of gales in Wales and north west England.

On Sunday it turns drier and warmer weather in the southern half of the UK. In the north west wet and windy weather returns and the rain steadily moves eastwards through the day. 

GFS, forecast pressure and rain, 16:00 BST Sun 9th September

North to south split next week?

Computer models currently show northern areas having changeable weather for much of next week. In the south there is more emphasis on drier and warmer periods, and at times the more settled conditions could extend northwards as high pressure builds.

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16 day GEFS ensembles at a glance

Cool weather is shown in the short term but next week it warms up. Rain is more likely in the north than in the south for most of the 16 day forecast period. View latest GEFS.