A rather dull and cloudy Tuesday is on the cards for much of the UK as Atlantic frontal systems slowly push their way across the country, their progress being held up somewhat by the presence of high pressure out to the east. However we are still expecting increasingly active weather to develop later in the week with an increasing risk of gales developing at times.

It is a mostly cloudy start to the day in most areas with outbreaks of rain and drizzle feeding in from the west and southwest, the heaviest and most persistent of the rain coming towards the northwest of the UK this morning. As we go through the day not much will change as further spells of rain push north-eastwards at times, so although there will be some drier intervals, the chances are that rain won't be too far away. The best chance of any sunshine today will come across Northern Ireland this afternoon as clearer conditions push in from the west, but even then a few scattered showers cannot be ruled out. Despite the cloud and dampness it will be a fairly mild day with top temperatures of 7°C to 11°C in locally brisk south/southeast winds.

The cloud and rain tends to become confined to England and Wales tonight keeping these areas mild and frost-free, but for Scotland and Northern Ireland temperatures will drop low enough for a touch of frost as clearer skies develop, although a few showers are possible around coasts. Looking ahead to tomorrow and many central and eastern regions will remain rather cloudy and damp whilst another band of rain pushing in from the west will squeeze out that zone of drier and brighter weather towards the northwest later in the day.

METEOROLOGIST: BARBER

Airmass ► Jet Stream ► Radar ► 

You could be excused for thinking this is about the air quality in the rugby dressing rooms at half time, but it's not.

The RBS Six Nations finally kicks off this coming weekend with all the teams in action and it looks as though the weather might make those penalty kicks a little more interesting too with the tournament coinciding with the return of the Atlantic.

You can check out all the fixtures for the Six Nations as well as the weather for each and every match by using our Six Nations forecasting page.

The other new page which is launched today shows the air quality for your location out to the next four days ahead in hourly intervals. The forecasts show the level of Ozone, Nitrogen Dioxide, Sulphur Dioxide, PM 2.5 (tiny air particles), PM 10 (bigger air particles) for any location across Europe. From March 1st we will also start the pollen season on this page too which will show the levels of Birch and Grass pollen for your location.

The forecasts are updated daily and will come into their own not only when the pollen season starts but also during the Summer when air pollution tends to increase due to high pressure and strong sunshine.

METEOROLOGIST : MARSH

Air Quality/Pollen ► Six Nations Rugby ►