Monthly Outlook

The rest of November is likely to stay unsettled and often wet, with slow-moving fronts bringing risks of some heavy rain in places. However, as we head into December the fronts will speed up, bringing less cold air and windier weather.

Low pressure is likely to be near or over the UK, especially across the south, throughout the rest of this week and the coming weekend. From Wednesday, low pressure will slide across Ireland and bring outbreaks of rain to the Southwest and Wales, as well as Northern Ireland later. Eastern England and Scotland will stay mostly fine and dry, but a few isolated showers in northern Scotland may bring some hail to a few spots.

On Thursday, this low pressure system will head into the English Channel, bringing a slow-moving front across southern Britain. Drier and brighter across northern parts of the UK but feeling cold in a brisk northerly wind. The front will move slowly north during Thursday bringing outbreaks of heavy rain into the Midlands and East Anglia. Through the evening and overnight the front will drift further northwards into parts of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, but the heavy rain should start to ease later in the night. There is a risk of a some areas in the Midlands and eastern England, seeing flooding from more heavy rain where river levels are already high.

The end of the week and start of the weekend will see this low pressure linger to the southeast of the UK and drifting into the North Sea. This will keep much of England and Wales wet and windy, while Scotland stays drier with a brisk northerly wind. There is a chance of some locally heavy downpours in the east on Saturday, with further flooding risks. However, by Sunday a ridge of high pressure will build in from the west, bringing a respite to the wet weather. It will turn cooler with brisk northerly winds bringing in some cold, polar air.

For the last full week of November, little change is expected to the overall weather pattern for the UK. We are likely to still see low pressure overhead or nearby keeping things unsettled and a bit cooler than normal. This low will have some slow-moving and weak fronts at times, and these will bring some longer outbreaks of rain for some parts of the country while elsewhere there are some lengthy dry spells and fine, sunny days.

As the low pressure centre shifts around, there is a chance that we may occasionally see a weak ridge of high pressure creep in. On Monday 18th one of these highs looks like it will move in from the west. With low pressure to the east bringing in some colder polar air from the north, the high pressure will make Monday night feel very cold with widespread frost across the country. Low pressure returning for the rest of the week will see things stay a bit milder and unsettled, with a risk of some locally heavy rain. This will likely trigger some localised flooding.

For the end of the week and weekend, we should start to see a gradual shift in the weather pattern as low pressure becomes more entrenched to the west and southwest of the UK. This will keep things unsettled and wet at times, but it will also shift the winds to a more southerly direction and tap into some milder Mediterranean air. Temperatures should tend to be closer to normal, for the time of year by the weekend, bringing some relief from the recent colder weather.

Towards the end of November and through the first week of December, we expect there to be a gradual shift from the wet and unsettled conditions seen so often during October and November to a more typical winter scenario. This will see high pressure to the east, across Russia and Scandinavia weaken and allow Atlantic weather systems to return into North Europe, bringing more active fronts. These fronts will be faster-moving and bring brief outbreaks of heavy rain and strong winds at times.

The main change is that warm fronts and high pressure to the southwest will tend to send more tropical air into the UK, lifting our temperatures from below average to near or a bit above average. Overnight frosts and hill-snow will gradually become less likely, but there may be a few crisp days and nights. There is a risk that weather systems may bring some very strong winds as well.
There is a chance that this strong high pressure over Russia will stick around further into December. If this happens, things will stay cooler with some longer outbreaks of rain and lighter winds. As the days continue to shorten, the chances of snow will increase in the hills and even for lowlands, mainly for Scotland.

How's the weather shaping up as we move closer to Christmas?