New weather maps show a spike in temperatures headed for the UK with the mercury soaring into the teens at the end of the month.
The new forecasts show a wide area of warm weather covering much of north west Europe and extending across the channel to blanket parts of the UK.
Southern England is set to see the best of the weather, according to the charts, with temperatures reaching as high as 17C in some areas towards the end of November.
The peak is set for November 26 with temperatures more like late spring forecast that the end of November. The UK has seen a sustained period of mild, dry, grey weather lately, due to a phenomenon called “anticyclonic gloom”.
Anticyclonic gloom is the result of a high pressure system arriving in autumn or winter, and while it can still result in fine bright days, it can also work to trap moisture close to the ground. This moisture forms low cloud, mist and fog and with the high pressure stopping winds arriving, it cannot be cleared away, WXCharts maps show.
Meanwhile the long range forecast from the Met Office for Wednesday November 27 to Wednesday December 11 did not mention the hotter temperatures, hinting only at “more settled conditions” to come.
“Signals vary in prevailing weather patterns through this period but likely more unsettled and colder than during early November for the start of the period. There is a greater chance of more mobile weather patterns which would see Atlantic systems periodically move across the country,” the forecast said. “These bringing some wetter and windier interludes followed by drier periods and with the colder air in situ a greater risk of some snow, especially for hills of the north.
“A trend toward less mobile weather or more settled conditions is favoured into December, although some wetter and windier interludes remain likely at times. Temperatures also trending closer to average, especially in the south.”
In the short term, the weather for much of the UK today is set to be dry with some sunny spells, with patches of light rain and drizzle continuing to move southwards across western Scotland.