Out goes the snow, in comes the wind and the rain

Tonight (Friday) will be the last spell of very wintry weather for a while, although its affects will be with us a little longer with icy stretches still possible, especially first thing on Saturday morning.

This weekend we will see the first in a succession of depressions coming across the British Isles, drawing in strong winds, with gales on exposed northern and western coasts.

On Saturday the last of the wintry weather will be exiting Southeast England. Elsewhere, there will be a mixture of sunny spells and showers, which may merge into longer spells of rain for Scotland. All the while the wind will pick up in the west dragging in cloud and outbreaks of rain during the evening.

Through Sunday morning the rain will continue to push eastwards, clearing by the afternoon, with clearer brighter weather following behind. As temperatures start to recover nearer to average any lying snow will melt quickly. The ice risk will diminish but overnight in northern areas some patches are still possible.

The wet and windy trend stays with us during next week and the combination of strong winds, melting snow, heavily saturated ground and more rain is likely to cause some local flooding in parts of the UK, especially across Southwest England.