Break in January chill, with Scots to enjoy hottest sun
After a week of chilly temperatures and heavy rain leading to flooding, especially in the Somerset Levels, January is going to give us what is, by seasonal averages, some welcome respite over the next few days.
This interlude comes in a topsyturvy way, with the normally warmer South East of England among the least favoured parts of the country, while northern Scotland, well used to facing the worst that winter can throw at us, basks for once in being the hottest place in the land. The cause of such an upside-down state of affairs is the mild air that is being drawn into northern and western Scotland, as well as Northern Ireland, by the southerly winds blowing anticlockwise around low pressure out in the Atlantic.
Stornoway will see the best of today’s temperatures at 50F (10C) and, by tomorrow, Belfast will be up at 54F (12C). Don’t expect too much bright winter sunshine – there will be plenty of cloud, some rain and a stiff breeze.
If it is sun you are wanting, then southern and south-eastern England and East Anglia are the best places today. But first you will have to deal with the early morning frost and fog. When the sun does appear, it will have far too little heat to dent the cold air that continues to sit over much of England and Wales. London, Norwich and Hull all get no higher than 39F (4C). Cardiff does slightly better at 45F (7C).
Monday will see more of the same, though patchy rain will increasingly make its presence felt in south west England, west Wales and up the north west coast from Liverpool into Scotland. By Tuesday, high pressure takes control over most of the UK, bringing dry, milder but cloudy conditions that will at times have a gloomy feel to them.
It is, after all, deep mid-winter.