Icy conditions will go but a hard wind will blow
AFTER the icy first blast of winter this past week, brought on by exceptionally cold north winds, temperatures are returning to a milder setting for the time being. The rain, though, continues to fall on already saturated ground, while out in the mid-Atlantic the hurricane season is ending with a bang.
The deluge that afflicted much of central and northern England and Wales yesterday will give way this morning to something quieter and drier. What rain there is will be confined to the north-east of Scotland while down in the south-east of England you may even see a bit of sunshine. Treasure it, because by the afternoon the rain clouds will once again gather off to the south-west, and sweep in over Cornwall and Devon and up into South Wales. But it will be warm compared with the seasonal averages for late November. So Plymouth will be top the UK charts today at 12C (54F), ahead of London at 11C (52F), Edinburgh at 10C (50F) and Liverpool at just 9C (48F).
That Sunday afternoon and evening infusion of rain will spread across the country tomorrow, though Scotland should be largely immune. If canvassers in the general election are looking for a dry, clement day to go around knocking on doors, Tuesday could well be their best bet. No one wants to meet a potential MP who looks like a drowned rat.
From Wednesday onwards there is a chance that everything will suddenly get more dramatic, with the tail end of Hurricane Sebastien out in the Atlantic looking likely to head toward southern England. Details are as yet hard to pin down, since our unpredictable weather has long had a way of rewriting every medium and long-term forecast.