Wednesday also dry and bright for much of the day. SW'ly winds freshening later, with thickening cloud bringing a little patchy rain to Shetland overnight.

Windy, cooler and showery on Thursday with showers. Brighter on Friday, with wintry showers and strong NW'ly winds. The weekend cloudy with showers - more frequent on Saturday - and fresh or strong NW'ly winds.

Next week probably starting mostly dry with lighter winds, but by midweek turning unsettled and windy.

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

Little change is likely during Tuesday and Wednesday but on Thursday, as high pressure slips away to the southwest and low pressure moves south into Scandinavia, a strengthening NW'ly airflow will bring a cold front south over northern Scotland.

A return to a milder W'ly airflow is expected during the weekend, 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 and cool W to NW'ly airflow.

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 on coasts and 1° or 2° Celsius inland.

TUESDAY 9th: Another dry day across the Northern Isles, with variable amounts of cloud leading to good sunny or clear spells. F3-4 light SW or W'ly winds continuing. Staying dry this evening and overnight with variable cloud amounts, resulting in clear skies at times. These will allow temperatures to fall - especially away from coasts - and mist or fog patches may develop in places, with the chance of a local grass frost.
Sea state - Moderate or slight, with a 1 to 2 metre SW'ly swell.

WEDNESDAY 10th: Any early local mist and fog will soon lift, to leave much of the day dry and bright. There will be sunny or clear periods at first, but cloud will thicken from the northwest during the afternoon, as F3 SW'ly winds begin to freshen and veer F4-5 WSW'ly. Later in the evening, Shetland may see a little patchy rain moving in from the northwest.
Sea state - Moderate, with a 2 metre SW'ly swell.

THURSDAY 11th: A cloudy start to the day, with a band of showery rain moving south across the area during the morning. W'ly winds - increasing F5-6 overnight - will veer NW'ly F6, as brighter cooler and showery conditions spread down from the northwest.
Sea state - Moderate, with a 2 metre SW'ly swell.

10-DAY OUTLOOK
Confidence level: Weather type - medium. Timing - low/medium.
Temperatures in the daily range 6° to 8° Celsius down to around 4° Celsius.

FRIDAY 12th: Brighter but also colder with showers. These will be frequent and wintry at first, but tend to die out later in the day. NW'ly winds will be strong over Shetland and fresh across Orkney.

SATURDAY 13th - SUNDAY 14th: Generally cloudy with showers, these probably merging into a longer period of rain on Saturday. The showers are likely to be wintry across the hills. Feeling cold in a fresh to strong NW'ly wind.

MONDAY 15th - TUESDAY 16th: Probably becoming drier on Monday as winds ease, and perhaps a reasonably fine day on Tuesday with light SW to W'ly winds.

WEDNESDAY 17th - FRIDAY 19th: Possibly 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.]]>