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Thursday starts wet in the south west and the north east. Elsewhere it is mainly dry and cold with patchy frost. Through the day heavy showery outbreaks of rain in the southwest slowly spread into Northern Ireland, northern Wales and central England. Over the Welsh mountains there will be snow for a time.

Scotland has a mix of heavy wintry showers and brighter intervals. In eastern England there could be a few hefty showers but many places miss them and stay dry.

Temperatures range from 6C (42F) in the north to 11C (52F) in sunnier parts of the east. See the rain and precipitation type radar for the latest view.

Meteo France Arpege, rain - snow, 15:00 BST Thu 4th April

Tonight it remains showery in the north and west. Over high ground in the north the risk of snow remains. Clear spells in other areas lead to a patchy frost by the morning.

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Tomorrow showery rains continues in the south west and extends into Wales and Northern Ireland at times. There could be some showers in the far north east too, but other areas should be mainly dry and bright. It will be milder than today.

GFS, temperatures, 16:00 BST Fri 5th April

Easterly next week

During the weekend high pressure builds to the north of the UK and an easterly flow develops. The air mass over the near continent won't be cold, so away from the east coast it is expected to be milder on Saturday. Showers become scattered with most of them in the north east and south west.

Sunday is looking chilly in the north east and near to the east coast. Some patchy bursts of rain could push westwards across the north but there should be a good deal of dry weather. The brightest conditions and highest temperatures will probably be in the south and west.

Next week the UK remains under an easterly flow. Central and northern parts of the UK stay quite cold and showery. In the south there should be more focus on drier conditions and temperatures will be closer to the seasonal average.

GFS pressure and 500hPa heights, 15:00 GMT Mon 8th April

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