Issued: 0530hrs Thursday 17th November 2016
Duty forecaster: Garry Nicholson

Showers or persistent rain for north-central Europe

Thursday
Low pressure broadly influences northern Europe, whilst high pressure resides to the south & south-west. A dry and sunny day for much of Spain and Portugal, warm in the south-west, topping 20C. Fairly cloudy around the Biscay coast. Areas of thundery rain for the western Mediterranean, may affect Sardinia and Sicily, but southern France and most of Italy will stay dry. Fair weather across south-eastern Europe, including Greece and Turkey. Sunny and warm in Cyprus, 19C.
A mild westerly pattern for northern Europe. Blustery winds, particularly around the English Channel and North Sea coasts, local gales. Fronts bring outbreaks of rain to northern France, the Low Countries and Germany, some persistent and heavy falls at times. Occasional showery rain for Poland and the Czech Republic.
Chilly across eastern Europe, 6C in Hungary and Slovakia, or close to freezing in Ukraine. Some sunshine around the Black Sea. Frequent showery rain for Denmark and coastal areas of southern Norway & Sweden. Brighter toward the Baltic, 4 to 7C. Chilly for Finland, and a zone of rain and snow advances across northern Scandinavia & the Baltic states.

Friday
A rapidly moving frontal system moves across northern Europe, bringing heavy rain and gales to southern Scandinavia overnight into Friday, sweeping north across Norway and Sweden into the daytime, falling as snow over the mountains. Rain arrives in southern Finland by afternoon. Milder air advances into the southern Baltic region. A cold front extends back across central Europe, bringing heavy rain and gusty winds to Germany, central France and the western Alps through the day, turning to snow over the mountains. Showers follow into western France, where temperatures will fall back to 9 or 10C.
Another fine day for most of Spain & Portugal. Cloudy in the north, but warm sunshine around southern Costas. Areas of thunderstorms across the Mediterranean and southern Italy, but feeling warm at 20C. Plenty of sunshine for Greece and south-eastern Europe as a whole. Dry across most eastern countries, although breezy for Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Patchy rain for the Baltic states, and some snow for western Russia.