Enjoy the winter sunshine after lashings of rain
Our winter days tend to come in two basic varieties – wet and windy, or sunny and sharp. After what feels like weeks of being lashed by wave after wave of rain, usually pushed in by fierce winds, finally we are switching channels this weekend. Like yesterday, today will start with the aftermath of an overnight frost, harsh in rural areas, before the sky turns a beautiful wintry blue.
What is driving the change is the arrival of an intense area of high pressure over the UK, replacing what has of late become the default of low pressure blowing in from the Atlantic. High pressure usually brings warmer air and clearer skies by day, but overnight the absence of cloud cover sees temperatures plunge.
And that is how it is going to be for the next few days.
However bright the winter sun is today, the power of its rays is weak, so the mercury will climb slowly as the frost melts away. Expect 9C (48F) down in the south west. Up through Wales and western England, the south-westerly wind will keep things pleasant enough (for January) 8C (46F), while over in the east and up into Scotland it will be a notch or two lower at 7C (44F).
The high pressure is going nowhere quickly, thanks to the Jet Stream, that ribbon of air currents that blows west to east across the Atlantic. It has moved to the north of the UK, meaning in simple terms that we are on the warm side of the line. More fog may creep in as the week progresses, and the sunshine could give way to cloud, but no more Storm Brendanstyle crashing waves and 80mph gusts in the immediate future.
However, the forecasts are suggesting that towards next weekend the Jet Stream will slip south, pushing the high pressure away and bringing us right back to that other variety of wet and windy winter. Enjoy the sharp sunshine while you can.