Stanhope (Durham) weather

Headline:

Sunny spells and blustery showers. Wintry on hills. Feeling cold.

Today:

A mixture of sunny spells and showers, these will be heavy and squally, with some turning wintry across the Pennines early in the day. Becoming largely dry in the afternoon. Strong and gusty northwesterly winds, with gales for many. Cold. Maximum temperature 5 °C.

Tonight:

Any showers gradually easing and becoming isolated. Winds slowly ease overnight. Becoming largely dry with clear spells, allowing for a touch of frost in some sheltered rural spots by dawn. Minimum temperature -1 °C.

Monday:

A chilly start, with some lengthy spells of sunshine. However, turning cloudier from the west with outbreaks of patchy light rain arriving during the afternoon. Breezy. Turning milder overnight. Maximum temperature 9 °C.

Outlook for Tuesday to Thursday:

Christmas Eve will be breezy and milder with outbreaks of rain or drizzle, mostly affecting western hills. Perhaps drier on Christmas Day and Boxing Day and noticeably milder. Lighter winds.

The start of this period will be characterised by mild, cloudy conditions for most, with some drizzle in places, and more persistent rain across northwest Scotland. Many other areas are predominantly dry but rather cloudy, with the best cloud breaks likely to be found across parts of eastern Scotland and Northeastern England. Around the turn of the year, it looks more probable that colder, more showery conditions will likely make at least some ingress into northern and perhaps central areas, bringing a risk of some impacts from ice, sleet and snow. Widely mild at first, perhaps exceptionally so in some places, but temperatures probably return to nearer normal by early January. Throughout, any clearer spells overnight may lead to localised frost and fog.

Confidence in this period is low, but overall slowly-evolving weather patterns are more favoured. Overall, there is a slightly reduced chance compared with normal of wet and windy spells, with instead a slightly greater potential for colder episodes during the first half of January. While drier than average conditions are likely for many areas, some precipitation is still expected, which could lead to wintry hazards at times. Temperatures are likely to be close to or a little above normal overall, but this could be made up of a mix of milder and colder interludes.