More rain tonight and tomorrow, but better by the weekend

Blue sky at Elvaston Castle, Derbyshire Credit: ITV Central

We came off better than we thought we would today with fine spells of sunshine across the region.

This is due to a little ridge of high pressure holding back a weather system from the SW.

Click on my special video weather update on this site for further details "More rain waiting in the wings" http://www.itv.com/news/central/story/2012-03-13/central-weather-travel/

Nevertheless, this little ridge is quite mobile and already being replaced so cloud is approaching from the SW, albeit slowly.

The rain should not be with us until this evening.

Wet, cooler than last night, some mist patches Credit: ITV Central

We expect heavy rain for a while tonight.

There is a questionmark over how far north the system gets tonight before it eventually pulls away to the SE tomorrow afternoon.

The new system should reach all but the very far north of the Midlands tonight. There may be some low cloud and mist in places. It will be breezy in places and feeling less chilly than last night.

More rain tomorrow with cooler temperatures and odd heavy showers.