Weather online update:

http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/cgi-app/reports?LANG=en&MENU=weekahead&DAY=20150118

Note "Briefly milder" by end of the period.

Nice. Some sleet possible on Northern hills. You'll excuse me won't you if I don't get too excited :)

BBC 6 to 10 dayer is about as anodyne as it gets.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/30863531

Wow, well that kills any interest in the coming week for almost everyone!  

Don't worry, what a difference a day makes! Brian's link is yesterday's outlook.

(Actually it doesn't make much difference, as the models haven't changed much since yesterday. The tone of the forecast is quite different today though!)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-30871062

Not a vast amount of precipitation on offer for most then (based on current forecast) but we stay chilly (south) to cold (north).  Fairly typically British week of winter weather in my opinion (like much of the winter).  (IMBY) Some frost, chilly by day but nothing that's not perfectly normal 'every' year, mix of rain/sleet/wet snow at times.  A bit 'meh' to be honest but when we see how Tuesday's front interacts I imagine the rest of the week will be easier to judge?

That looks different to the 6z output , they must see something we don't

EDIT

Just seen Darren's post

This was written in October,presumably on the back of an Express article. Still relevant,though.

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/environment/britain-to-be-hit-by-entirely-typical-weather-201110174431

and here:

https://www.facebook.com/bbcscotlandnews/photos/a.195866060437620.47806.185246968166196/924427880914764/?type=1

Why do we seem to require yellow warnings for a frost nowadays? Yes I know it's ice, but realising sub zero temps causes water to freeze isn't a recent discovery. 

And here's me cynically thinking there's bound to be some insurance reason 

Frosts and snowfall for the southern tip of Cornwall must be even rarer than in Aberdeen #richard

Reporter on the M62 this morning on the BBC:

'It got down to -3 and it's currently -1'

As traffic flows freely on the snow-free motorway under where she is stood, and you can just see a light covering around, am I the only one who finds this sort of reporting ridiculous?

Totally agree complete and utter bollards. 95% of the country has very little or no snow. And according to the latest forcast most won't see any this week

They have to spend your Licence fee money    somehow !!

so here we go send somebody to the M62 to show you the 'Big Freeze' joke to those who are sitting on front of the telly at 8 am.

Monthly Outlook from the BBC: - Not quite the low of -15c as forecasted then!?

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Monday 19 January Published at 10:00

Monthly Outlook

Summary


Some proper winter weather! But for how long?

January started very mild and very wet but more recently a colder theme has returned to UK shores with a fairly frequent occurrence of frost, below average temperatures and even some snow.

Official overnight temperatures (which run from 1800 - 0600 the following morning) from Sunday night into Monday fell to -11.8 C at Dalwhinnie. Thereafter temperatures continued to slide away and reached -13.1 C at Tulloch Bridge. We did not quite reach the record of the most recent coldest night of -13.6 C in 2013 in Janruary.

The next question is how long the cold air will stay around and in what way the milder air from the Atlantic will reach us. How will the weather be affected as we make a transition from colder air towards more normal temperatures? Well, let's take a look.


Monday 19 January—Monday 26 January

Brrrrrrr keep the winter woolies to hand.

As we plod through January, we are drawn even further into the throws of our coldest season and a wintry chill will hang in the air right the way through the week.
Monday will be dry, cold and frosty with many areas only slowly recovering to above freezing during daylight hours. A few wintry showers are likely to affect some coastal fringes but for most of us it will be dry and cold despite any sunshine on offer.
Another cold night will follow on Monday night and frosty conditions will prevail. However, across Northern Ireland a cloudier night is expected as a weakening front slowly arrives in from the west. This will fall as a wintry mixture of rain, sleet and snow, decaying as it moves eastwards.
The front will continue to progress slowly eastwards into Britain on Tuesday, introducing areas of cloud and a weakening wintry mix of rain, sleet and snow. The front is not expected to clear eastern areas until Wednesday. This should lead on to a mostly dry end to the week. Regardless of the weather type this week, our overnight temperatures will drop away below freezing and daytime temperatures will work terribly hard to get back up above freezing!
As we approach the weekend, we start to see the various computer models diverge as to what is expected to happen next. Saturday and Sunday herald the slow change from our very cold conditions as the Atlantic shows hints of becoming more gently mobile, allowing frontal system to seep in from the west.


Monday 26 January—Monday 2 February

Would you bet on what the weather will be?

Computer models continue to differ in their detail for their solutions for next week, but in general they are signalling a more mobile weather pattern. Temperatures will start to recover towards normal for the time of year and we are likely to see longer spells of rain, with snow being confined to hills and mountains. North western areas are expected to receive the bulk of the rain, while drier conditions are expected to occur more frequently in the south-east.


Monday 2 February—Monday 16 February

Pick a card, any card - sun, rain, snow or ice?

As with any long term forecast, the various model solutions create a challenge to identify the weather pattern type that we can expect. Whilst there is divergence in what the models say, the general trend is for a 'zonal pattern'. A zonal pattern is where we see west to east movement of weather systems. This implies that rain will move through relatively quickly, as will quieter drier and colder interludes and there will be greater day to day variation in wind, temperature, sunshine and rainfall.

Met Office Monthly outlook updated:

Outlook for the UK over the next 6-30 days

UK Outlook for Friday 23 Jan 2015 to Sunday 1 Feb 2015:

Cloud and rain across western parts, locally heavy and falling as snow over the hills, will make uncertain eastward progress through Friday with some eastern parts remaining dry throughout, and some drier weather perhaps following to western parts later. It may become drier and brighter across many parts on Saturday, but frosty overnight. After a cold start on Sunday. it may well become less cold from the west later in the weekend with temperatures returning to nearer normal for many as more unsettled conditions return from the west. Thereafter, the changeable conditions look set to prevail with spells of wet and windy conditions, especially in the northwest, interspersed by brighter, colder, showery interludes with some snow possible. Temperatures are likely to vary markedly day to day.

UK Outlook for Monday 2 Feb 2015 to Monday 16 Feb 2015:

The unsettled conditions will probably continue across most parts of the UK during the first half of February, particularly for northern and western parts. Southern areas are probably most likely to experience some lengthier dry and clearer spells. Temperatures are currently signalled to be rather below normal, which will bring a risk of night-time frosts, particularly across southern parts, and also a wintry mix of rain, sleet and perhaps snow in places.

Updated at: 0329 on Mon 19 Jan 2015