Sedgefield Racecourse (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.

Boxing Day weather will be characterised by mild, cloudy conditions for most, with bits of drizzle in places and perhaps some more persistent rain in northwest Scotland. This sets the scene for the next few days too, with an area of high pressure becoming established across much of the UK, probably centred over or just to the south of England. The highest chance of rain and strong winds will be in northwest Scotland, with many other areas predominantly dry but rather cloudy, although more settled conditions may well extend to the northwest at times too. Widely mild at first, perhaps exceptionally so in some places early on, 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.