Orkney Weather
Headlines
Today:DRY, BRIGHT AND BREEZY
Next 3 Days:RAIN CLEARING, WIND EASING LATER
10 Day Outlook: SHOWERS, BREEZY
Summary
Dry with plenty of sunshine today but also breezy, with the SE’ly wind strong across Orkney but a little lighter over Shetland. Remaining dry tonight with clear periods, the strong SE’ly wind continuing.
Shetland staying fine and dry on Tuesday. Some rain possibly reaching Orkney late in the day. Strong to gale-force SE’ly winds.
Cloudy on Wednesday, with outbreaks of rain and strong to gale-force SE’ly winds. These veering S’ly and easing on Thursday, as drier and brighter conditions move north. Bright on Friday and the weekend, with occasional showers and light S’ly winds.
Next week possibly seeing some rain or showers, with fresh SW to W’ly winds.
GENERAL SITUATION AND SYNOPSIS 06:00 UTC
A freshening SE’ly airflow covers northeast Scotland. This will strengthen further, as a depression pushes a front north across Scotland against a large anticyclone sitting over Scandinavia.
The front is expected to reach Orkney late on Tuesday. With the high reluctant to move, the front will become slow-moving near Fair Isle during Wednesday, before finally clearing Shetland on Thursday as the Scandinavian high weakens. The strong SE’ly airflow will then veer light S’ly, as a large slack area of low pressure develops to the west of the British Isles.
This is forecast to move away next weekend, with a mid-Atlantic anticyclone then extending across mainland UK. Present predictions suggest this may last for much of next week, with a fresh SW’ly airflow over the Northern Isles veering W or NW’ly later, as low pressure tracks east from Iceland into Scandinavia.
FORECAST FOR NEXT THREE DAYS
Confidence level: Weather type – high/medium. Timing – medium/high.
Temperatures ranging from a daytime high of 13° to 15° Celsius down to an overnight low of 11° or 12° Celsius.
MONDAY 6th: Dry with long spells of sunshine, but with a F6-7 SE’ly wind across Orkney, F5-6 around Fair Isle, and F5 across the rest of Shetland. Remaining dry with clear periods through the evening and overnight. F6-7 SE’ly winds touching gale F8 at times over parts of Orkney.
Sea state – Mostly rough, with a SE’ly wind-swell, mainly 3 to 4 metre but 5 metres in the far west. Moderate to the northeast of Shetland at first, with a 2 metre SE’ly wind-swell.
TUESDAY 7th: Shetland staying fine and dry but breezy. Orkney, after a bright morning, will see cloud increase from the south during the afternoon, this thick enough perhaps to give a little rain later in the evening. Fair Isle also clouding over later, but staying largely dry. F6-7 SE’ly winds, locally gale F8 over Orkney and through the Fair Isle Channels.
Sea state – Mostly rough, with a 3 to 4 metre SE’ly wind-swell increasing 4 to 5 metres in open waters around Orkney and through the Fair Isle Channels.
WEDNESDAY 8th: Cloudy, with outbreaks of rain and F6 to gale F8 SE’ly winds.
Sea state – Mostly rough, with a 3 to 4 metre SE’ly wind-swell. Later easing moderate to rough, with a 2 to 3 metre SE’ly wind-swell.
10-DAY OUTLOOK
Confidence level: Weather type – medium. Timing – medium/low.
Temperatures in the daily range 13° to 15° Celsius down to about 9° Celsius.
THURSDAY 9th: Drier and brighter conditions moving north across Orkney during the morning, and Shetland through the afternoon. Strong winds easing with the improvement, and veering moderate or light S to SE’ly.
Sea state – Overnight easing moderate, with a 2 metre S or SSE’ly wind-swell. Later in the day becoming moderate to slight, with a 1 to 2 metre S to SW’ly wind-swell.
FRIDAY 10th: Sunny or clear spells, an occasional shower, and light S’ly winds.
SATURDAY 11th – THURSDAY 16th: Sunny spells, an occasional shower, and light S’ly winds for the weekend. The following week possibly seeing some rain or showers and fresh SW to W’ly winds.
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.