Rain across Shetland clearing south over Orkney on Thursday afternoon, with brighter conditions following as strong W'ly winds veer NW'ly.

Rather cloudy on Friday with a few showers, these more frequent overnight and for a time on Saturday.. Sunday mostly cloudy but drier, with strong NW'ly winds backing W'ly.

Next week probably starting mostly dry with lighter winds, but soon turning unsettled and windy with the chance of gales..

GENERAL SITUATION AND SYNOPSIS 06:00 UTC
With an anticyclone centred over the UK, a fresh SW to W'ly airflow covers the Northern Isles.

As the high slips southwest across Ireland, fronts - associated with low pressure between Iceland and Norway - will move down from the northwest towards Shetland.

On Thursday, as high pressure slips away to the southwest of the British Isles and low pressure transfers into Scandinavia, the W'ly airflow will veer NW'ly, as fronts move south into mainland Scotland.

A return to a W'ly airflow is expected for the start of next week, as a ridge topples southeast over northern areas. However, with high pressure predicted to lie to the south of the British Isles - while lows track east from Iceland - next week will probably see a rather unsettled airflow from between S to W'ly.

FORECAST FOR NEXT THREE DAYS
Confidence level: Weather type - high. Timing - high/medium.
Temperatures rising to 7° or 8° Celsius by day, falling overnight to around 4° Celsius.

WEDNESDAY 10th: The day will be generally cloudy across the Northern Isles, although Orkney could see some brighter spells at times. While most places will have a dry day, a few scattered light showers are possible, these most likely to be across Shetland. Mild temperatures, but feeling cool in a F5-6 SW to W'ly wind. Remaining generally dry across Orkney this evening and tonight, with perhaps an occasional break appearing in the otherwise rather extensive cloud-sheet. The cloud thickening over Shetland, bringing a little rain here later in the night. F5-6 SW to W'ly winds continuing.
Sea state - Moderate or slight in waters to the south and east of Orkney, with a 1 to 2 metre SW'ly swell. Otherwise moderate, with a 2 metre SW'ly swell.

THURSDAY 11th: Rain across Shetland - becoming heavy for a time - will spread to Orkney during the morning. Brighter conditions will follow for from the northwest during the afternoon, as the rain clears to showers and F5-6 W'ly winds veer NW'ly.
Sea state - Moderate, with a 2 metre SW'ly swell around the west and north of Orkney and also Shetland, but slight in sheltered Orkney waters.

FRIDAY 12th: Rather cloudy with a few bright or sunny spells but also a scattering of showers, these perhaps becoming more frequent overnight.
Sea state - Moderate, with a 2 metre SW'ly swell around the west and north of Orkney and also Shetland, but slight in sheltered Orkney waters.

10-DAY OUTLOOK
Confidence level: Weather type - medium. Timing - low/medium.
Temperatures in the daily range 7° to 8° Celsius down to around 4° Celsius.

SATURDAY 13th - SUNDAY 14th: Generally cloudy with showers, these probably merging into a longer period of rain on Saturday, with Sunday seeing fewer showers as strong NW'ly winds back W'ly.
Feeling cold in the fresh to strong winds, these NW'ly in direction on Saturday but backing W'ly on Sunday.

MONDAY 15th - TUESDAY 16th: Probably becoming mostly dry by Monday, as winds fall light. Tuesday starting fine and possibly frosty, but rain spreading east later as S'ly winds increase strong.

WEDNESDAY 17th - SATURDAY 20th: Perhaps unsettled with rain or showers. Winds generally between S and W in direction, strong at times with the chance of gales.

Be aware that the weather over north-west Europe - and especially around the Northern Isles - is part of an ever-changing and dynamic system. Therefore regard the '10-Day Outlook' as a guide only - there are times when any outlook going beyond about 36 to 48 hours is likely to prove unreliable.

Always check the latest forecast from the UK Met Office before undertaking any weather-dependent activity.]]>