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Wednesday begins with bands of rain in southern and central England. Elsewhere it is mostly dry but there are showers in the north west. Through the day the wet weather steadily clears southeastwards. Cooler and brighter conditions follow but showers spread eastwards across Northern Ireland and Scotland.  

Temperatures range from 10C (50F) in the north west to 18C (64F) in the south. See the rain and lightning radar for the latest view.

Meteo France Arpege, forecast rain, 13:00 BST Wed 12th September

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Tonight cloud and rain spread across much of the north and winds strengthen. Southern and central regions remain dry and under clear skies it will be chilly.

Tomorrow the wet weather becomes more showery in northern areas. Southern and central regions have a dry day with sunny periods.

GFS, forecast temperatures, 16:00 BST Thu 13th September

On Friday central and northern regions have heavy showers which could merge to give some longer spells of rain. Scattered showers are possible in the south but there should be a good deal of dry and bright weather as high pressure remains quite close.

Mixed end to the week

Saturday looks like starting off dry but wet and windy weather spreads eastwards across much of the north during the second half of the day. The south probably stays mostly dry and in sunny spells it should feel quite warm.

Details for Sunday are uncertain but it looks as though a band of rain will spread southeastwards into Wales and northern England. To the north of that there will be a mix of sunny spells and showers. In parts of the south and south east it remains dry and quite warm.

GFS, forecast rain, 16:00 BST Sun 16th September

Spanish plume early next week?

During the early part of next week the the combination of high pressure over the continent and low pressure in the Atlantic could lead to a Spanish Plume weather pattern developing. That means very warm air being pulled up from southern Europe or North Africa for a time. Although it is late in the season computer models are suggesting temperatures could briefly climb towards 30C (86F) before rain and cooler air return from the west. 

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16 day GEFS ensembles at a glance

Cooler conditions are shown in the short term. During the middle part of September there is quite a strong signal for a spell of warm and dry weather in the south but the north remains more changeable. View latest GEFS.