Issued: 0530hrs Tuesday 1st January 2019
Duty forecaster: Claire Darbinyan

Mainly dry but windy in the north and east

Good morning,

It will be a cool and cloudy start to the New Year for many this morning with the thickest cloud in Northern Ireland, northeast Scotland, north Wales, the Midlands and the southwest. Brighter skies elsewhere though there may be some mist and fog patches. It will be windy too in the northeast with gale force winds for Shetland and strong winds for Orkney, the north of Scotland and eastern coasts of Scotland and England.

Winds will ease for northern areas through the afternoon though strong winds will spread further south down the east coast of England. A mixture of cloudy skies and sunny spells will persist through the afternoon with the best of the brightness for western and southern Scotland, northern and eastern England, and south-central England. High temperatures will reach 4 or 5C in Scottish towns and cities, 7 or 8C in Northern Ireland and the north of England and 9 or 10C across central and southern England and Wales.

It will remain dry through the evening and winds will continue to ease. Temperatures will drop close to freezing across much of Scotland and northern England through the evening.

Happy New Year!
Claire