Day 8 - strong easterlies

A warm south-easterly flow covers much of Britain and Ireland today thanks to a warm front having moved northwards overnight bringing a little rain with it in places. It does mean it has been a rather cloudy and murky start to the day, but as the day wears on we should see some sunshine breaking through.

The best of the sunshine is likely to be towards southern and western areas, although the far southwest of England and Ireland is likely to stay cloudier with a little showery rain at times. There will also be a little rain or drizzle across parts of eastern Scotland and northeast England too, but elsewhere should become mainly dry with the skies brightening. The highest temperatures will be found where the best of the sunshine appears, with maximums of 22C (72F) likely over parts of southern or western England this afternoon.

A quiet night follows with mist and low cloud forming in many areas. Some light rain or drizzle will still be affecting north-eastern coasts and this may extend a little further inland during the night. Saturday will start off rather cloudy again in many areas, but sunny spells will again break through and it will turn warm over central, southern and western areas of England and Wales with temperatures perhaps reaching 23C (73F) despite the brisk south-easterly winds.

These winds tend to back towards more of an easterly direction during Sunday and Monday, and will become quite strong across southern counties. This means that whilst many areas will remain mostly fine, if rather cloudy at times, it will begin to turn a touch cooler as we start to lose the warm feed from the southeast.