Colder air is on the way, but also plenty of dry and cloudy conditions

January was quite a cold month and wet with 108mm of rain.

The overall average temperature was +3.1°C.

We managed a high of 11.0°C (16th).

By contrast we pretty much saw temperatures at zero or below, overnight, on the first 12 days of the month.

One thing to note about the 108mm of rain is: most of this fell over three days - 30.2mm (1st), 27mm (5th), and 13mm (27th).

So realistically, according to Oldham weather expert Jon Baylis, January had plenty of dry days.

In fact nine days dry and a further nine days with less than 1mm of rain.

We also saw some snow, which caused disruption at Manchester airport, four days out of five.

And enough snow for us to enjoy some sledging.

February has started with rain falling on four out of the first five days, but drier days are ahead; and colder.

How cold?

Read on for Jon's full outlook:

Today (Thursday): It’ll be a frosty start with perhaps a few mist patches and once these are clear, it’ll be a lovely winter’s day with plenty of sunshine and light winds.

Another frost overnight with a higher risk of mist or fog forming.

Max 7°C Min -1°C.

Friday: Another cold start with fog in places and a frost once again, albeit not as cold as Thursday.

The mist might lift into low-cloud in places and be a bit stubborn to clear, but once it does another day of bright or sunny spells, variable cloud and feeling just a little cooler.

Cold wind.

Max 6°C Min -1°C.

Weekend: Colder air from the east.

Saturday: It’s likely to be a cloudier start which will take some shifting, but eventually, especially west of high ground, some sunny spells will break through.

Another dry day with the temperature coming down a notch and not windy.

Max 5°C Min 0°C.

Sunday: A patchy frost to start where areas have seen some clear spells overnight.

Otherwise, the easterly flow has dragged in some cloud.

So a cloudier day is expected and feeling colder due to the lack of brightness.

Any sunshine is likely to be in the west and southwest.

But at least it’s dry with just the outside chance of some snow flurries where cloud is thickest.

Max 5°C Min 0°C.

Outlook: There’s been a lot of talk about significant cold coming from Russia.

Even though we start the week with an easterly feed and temperatures below average, the weather is expected to stay in a similar pattern with similar temperatures for the remainder of the week and a lot of dry conditions.

There just might be the odd shower drifting in from the east which could be wintry but there will also be a notable wind-chill.

It’s a long way off at the moment, but the models were hinting, earlier this week, that some significant cold was coming from the east, as we head towards next weekend, but yesterday the models did a U-turn.

This could chop and change over the coming days.

But at this stage and so far out, deep-cold is favouring a no-go.

So stay tuned to Jon's updates on social media.

Of course the media have already got a hold of this, so you’re bound to see over the top sensational headlines in the tabloids.

Follow @Chadweather on X for the latest forecasts and warnings.

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