Change is coming after a prolonged sunny and dry spell of weather

What a spell of weather we’re currently experiencing - it’s been immense.

There’s no better weather than a crisp morning with overnight frost melting and then the warmth of the rising sun leading to a day of blue clear skies. Bliss.

Of course, Oldham weather expert Jon Baylis is referring to this week as opposed to last week, which had a strong and gusty wind with a biting edge to it.

Also, it’s not been massively warm but it will be at the back end of this week.

So change is coming.

What change can we expect?

After a very long dry spell, where we’ve only had 14 days of rain out of the last 58 days, and with high pressure that’s been around or close by for what seems like weeks now, it is eventually going to be replaced with more unsettled west or southwesterly winds.

We will then have a low pressure anchored out in the Atlantic which is likely to throw bands of showers our way.

Change is not expected until Sunday or even Monday.

At this stage, with it being 3-4 days away, there is a bit of uncertainty on how unsettled it gets.

The most likely scenario at the moment is obviously we see the return of cloudier skies and the risk of showers breaking out.

This looks like it might last a few days before a ridge of high pressure starts to nudge in from the Azores which will improve conditions once again, but the days of unbroken sunshine will certainly be coming to an end later this weekend.

There is certainly no sign of any snow or a significantly cold snap which the media keeps “promising”.

Here's Jon's latest in-depth forecast:

Today (Thursday): High pressure is now sitting on top of the UK.

So with light winds we can expect another chilly start with a touch of ground-frost.

Another cracking day follows, dry with wall-to-wall sunshine. Just perhaps a little hazy at times.

Feeling very pleasant indeed. Temperatures up a notch too.

Max 18°C Min 3°C.

Friday: Very little change.

Blue skies and plenty of warm sunshine after a cool start.

Don’t be surprised locally to see somewhere reach 20°C.

Not as cold overnight.

Max 20°C Min 6°C.

Weekend: Cooler and cloudier on Sunday.

Saturday: The final day of this fantastic weather, so make the most of it.

Very warm for the time of year, likely the warmest day so far, with plenty of sunshine, but some cloud could bubble up later on.

Winds still remaining light and dry.

Max 21°C Min 7°C.

Sunday: A keen westerly wind will bring much cooler conditions throughout.

We will also see more in the way of cloud but also a few bright or sunny spells.

Most places should be dry but we can’t rule out some scattered showers as the weather begins to break.

Max 14°C Min 5°C.

Outlook: An area of low pressure will establish itself out west in the Atlantic.

This will bring us brisk southwesterly winds and occasional bands of showers for the first few days of next week.

Temperatures back to normal.

Later in the week, a ridge of high pressure from the Azores should nudge in to bring drier conditions and some sunny spells, but nothing like the days of blue skies that we’ve seen over the last two weeks.

No sign of anything significantly cold nor warm on the horizon.

Rain-wise, as mentioned previously, there will be some showers around but rainfall amounts are still expected to be quite low.

Follow @ChadWeather on X and Bluesky for the latest forecasts and warnings.

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