A blustery weekend ahead
We started the week with dull skies and outbreaks of rain, a chilly northeasterly wind and frosty night in Scotland.
On Thursday the Atlantic battled back, this gave way to a milder southwesterly flow, temperatures and humidity on the up, which caused widespread heavy showers and thunderstorms on Thursday night - in Exeter between 7pm and 8pm, 19.2mm of rain fell, 15% of the October average in one hour, causing flash flooding.
Is there a hurricane heading our way?
Yes and no. Hurricane Gonzalo, a category 4 (out of 5) storm, the strongest of the season so far, will track across Bermuda on Friday with a life threatening storm surge and flash floods. Winds will mean 120mph and gust up to 150 mph when it hits. It’ll then become extra tropical (loose it’s hurricane characteristics) as it track north towards Newfoundland on Sunday morning. It will move across the Atlantic over the weekend. Arriving in the UK later on Monday. By then it’ll be a deep low bringing rain and gales to Scotland and Northern Ireland. I’ll keep you posted on this next week.
Weekend weather
After a fine Friday for many, mild with sunny spells, we’ll see our next weather front, a warm front, approaching form the west. It’ll move into the southwest on Friday evening and bring a wet, windy and mild night to all.
Saturday the associated cold front will sit across East Anglia, southeast and southern England giving a cloudy day with outbreaks of patchy rain. Elsewhere it’ll be a blustery day with sunshine and showers. The showers will be heavy with hail and thunder, especially in the north and west. It’ll be mild for all with a southerly wind, temperatures 16C in the north and 20C in the south.
Sunday will be a blustery day with sunshine and showers, again heavy and thundery in the north and west. It will be a brighter day for East Anglia and the southeast, thanks to the weather front clearing and out of the breeze 20 degrees will feel very nice.
Will it improve next week?
No! We start on a fine note, bright and breezy with scattered showers in the north and west but not as heavy as the ones we’ll have over the weekend. Then the fun begins on Monday night as the remnants of hurricane Gonzalo track to our north. It’ll bring heavy rain and gales or severe gales. Warnings may be issued. As it clears through on Tuesday, we return to sunshine and showers much colder air will follow behind. Cold enough for snow over the hills of Scotland! The outlook remains ‘unsettled’ with temperatures recovering by the end of the week.