Met Office meteorologist Alex Deakin said there will be a north-south divide in the coming days. He explained: "Quite a contrast in the weather across the country today, warm and sunny across the south - wet and windy across the far north west." This makes frontal rain hard to avoid because the rain usually stretches along the entire length of the front. These fronts can typically last for a day or so and they are commonly associated with unsettled weather. Showers Ireland’s meteorological agency said: “Fine and frosty to begin for many Saturday with icy patches and some mist and fog in places. A little less cold in the west and south with the odd light shower. Sunny spells will develop in many areas, but it will turn cloudier from the Atlantic in the afternoon with rain developing near west and southwest coasts towards evening. Chilly, with afternoon highs of 5C to 8C generally, but again, remaining milder in the southwest. Light variable winds will become light or moderate southeasterly as the day goes on.

There will be similar conditions on Thursday with clouds breaking to reveal periods of sunshine, variable amounts of patchy cloud cover and a widespread threat of showers developing. Some showers will be locally heavy and thundery in nature but will ease and clear during the afternoon to reveal late sunny spells. Temperatures will reach 15°C for Plymouth, 11°C for Edinburgh and 17°C for London. Rain will clear eastwards overnight. Drier by the end of the week A sharp plunge in temperatures is set to be felt across the UK today because of cold air from the Arctic bringing with it a new phase of colder conditions. It is then expected to stay cold throughout the weekend and beyond, with the mercury dropping as low as -7C in some northern areas overnight on Saturday. Long range UK weather forecastOn Tuesday evening and night a band of rain is expected to move in from the Atlantic which could turn a bit wintry on hills as temperatures fall close to freezing. The primary goal of this article was to make sure you get a better understanding of the different weather forecasting symbols and elements to help you be better prepared for upcoming weather conditions. Never miss out again when another interesting and helpful article is released and stay updated, while also receiving helpful tips & information by simply following this link . However, it’s set to turn even colder next week with the possibility of wintry showers hitting parts of the island.

The difference between showers and rain becomes readily apparent when we take a top-down look at the weather map. In the examples below, the difference is evident in a large organised band of rainfall moving across the UK, and isolated showers spouting up and disappearing across Scotland. What we usually mean when referring to 'rain' is the precipitation that falls from weather fronts. A front is aboundary between two bodies of air that have different properties.Frontal cloud may stretch for hundreds of miles usually consisting of various types of stratus cloud (including stratus, altostratus and nimbostratus). READ MORE: Nella Rose and Fred Sirieix 'pleasantly surprise' I'm A Celeb viewers as they team up for challenge after row An easterly freeze is set to engulf Ireland, bringing sub-zero temperatures, widespread frost and wintry showers. When a weather front brings rain, it will usually bring continuously grey skies, with rainfalling through a large portion of the day. In these situations, weather forecasters tend to use the terms 'persistent rain' or 'prolonged rainfall'.

Showers will merge into longer spells of rain across the south-eastern quarter of the UK during the afternoon and evening, however clouds will break elsewhere and some brighter or sunny spells will break through. Highs will climb to 18°C for London, 17°C for Manchester and 15°C for Edinburgh. Sunny spells and scattered showers Showers, by contrast,are produced by convective clouds known as cumulus.Rain-bearing cumulus clouds are commonly taller than they are wide and have a fluffy, cauliflower-like appearance to their tops.