Gairich (Highland) weather

Headline:

Rain spreading eastwards, drier and clearer in west later.

Today:

Cloudy with rain across the west in the morning, this spreading across eastern parts in the afternoon. Turning drier across the west through the afternoon. Mild around Inverness and Nairn. Maximum temperature 11 °C.

Tonight:

Rain over the east at first, clearing through the evening and turning wintry over the hills. Otherwise dry with increasingly clear skies, allowing a widespread frost to develop. Minimum temperature -2 °C.

Friday:

Dry with good prolonged sunny spells, though feeling cooler than recent days. Cloudier in the west with increasingly strong south to southwest winds. Maximum temperature 8 °C.

Outlook for Saturday to Monday:

Dry with some bright spells in east on Saturday, windy and cloudier in west with occasional rain. Variable cloud and bright spells Sunday and Monday with occasional rain, mostly west.

The first part of this period will continue to see the UK located at the interface between high pressure across Europe and low pressure over the North Atlantic. As such, western areas will likely see spells of rain at times, along with stronger winds, whereas eastern parts should see more in the way of drier interludes, though even here, some rain is possible from time to time. Towards the middle of March, there is still a signal for unsettled conditions to become rather more widespread, with all parts seeing a higher chance of rain and stronger winds. Throughout, temperatures should overall pan out a little above average for most areas.

The start of this period could see unsettled condtions quite widely across the UK, with spells of rain and strong winds affecting many areas at times. Then, whilst confidence in the details is low, there is the potential for weather patterns to become slower-moving by late March, with unsettled weather becoming more confined to parts of the south, as areas towards the north and northwest turn drier. Given this pattern, the chance of wintry hazards will increase compared to earlier in March. Overall, temperatures will probably end up near to average, but there is an increasing chance of below average temperatures towards the end of March, though at present, there is no strong sign for any really cold weather to develop.