No springtime solace from a wet and chilly March
HOW to sum up this March as it draws towards its close? Wet, gloomy and cold would seem the most obvious adjectives, even if we did need some of that rainfall after a very dry February.
And now we are facing more wintry weather when we should already be enjoying spring.
After a week of unsettled but mild conditions, a chilly wind from the Arctic started blowing into northern Scotland yesterday. As today starts, it will be working its way southwards, pushing down temperatures. Snow is likely in northern parts.
Further south, more low pressure will be pushing in from the Atlantic, with heavy rain likely anywhere from west Wales in the morning to eastern parts of England later in the afternoon.
With that northerly wind making its presence increasingly felt, the mercury will be tumbling – as low as 5C (41F) in Stornoway, 6C (43F) in Aberdeen, and no more than 9C (48F) across southern England, East Anglia and South Wales. Only Cornwall and Devon, at 11C (52F) will escape the worst, but as the day wears on it will get progressively colder. Take your Sunday constitutional in the morning – if at all.
Overnight from today into tomorrow, the dominance of low pressure that has been shaping our weather these last 10 days will briefly be broken as high pressure pushes in from the south-west.
The winds will drop and the rain dry up in most southerly parts, but clear skies mean plummeting temperatures with frost and ice tomorrow morning for the commute into work. On the east coast, it will be particularly cold.
By Tuesday, low pressure will have returned, and with it a milder air from the south west, but also rain. The week ahead looks likely to be a repeat of the one just gone. This March is determined not to offer any solace before it gives way to April.*