Issued: 0530hrs Tuesday 27th December 2016
Duty forecaster: Garry Nicholson

Warm in south-west; cold north & east

Tuesday
A large area of high pressure centred over France and Britain brings fair weather to west & north-western Europe. Plenty of sunshine. Mild for Spain and the western Mediterranean, highs 14 to 18C. A strong easterly wind affects the Alps, northern Italy and southern France, possible gales. Outbreaks of rain and snow for the Balkans. Generally dry for Greece . Thundery rain for Cyprus.
Low pressure moving east across the Baltic states produces strong a north-westerly wind and wintry showers for eastern Europe. Risk of gales around the Baltic. Temperatures 5 to 8C in Germany, but feeling cooler in the wind. Dry for the Low Countries, Denmark and much of Sweden. Frequent snow showers for northern Norway, and patchy rain toward the west. Widely near or below freezing across Scandinavia.

Wednesday
High pressure remains across central & western Europe, maintaining plenty of fair weather. Lots of sunshine for France and Iberia. Temperatures reaching 12 to 17C, warmest toward southern Spain and Portugal. A cool northerly wind brings showers to south-eastern Europe, falling as snow over the mountains. Some heavy and persistent rain affects the Greek Islands and Turkey.
Windy again across the Alps, and a band of rain and snow affects Austria and the Czech Republic. Dry for much of Germany, and extensively dry across the Low Countries and southern Scandinavia. A south-westerly wind strengthens for northern Scandinavia, bringing rain to north-west Norway. Dry with lighter winds for Sweden. Staying cold for Finland.