TEMPERATURES are set to drop over the coming days as the Island experiences a cold snap to accompany the start of meteorological winter.
Jersey Met is forecasting a maximum of 8°C tomorrow, the first single-figure daily high since 8 April. A peak of just 6°C is expected on Sunday, when a cold easterly wind will make it feel more like 1°C or 2°C.
Lows of 2°C to 4°C are possible, depending on whether there are overnight breaks in the cloud cover.
Duty forecaster Matt Winter said that Atlantic low-pressure systems which had been dominating for weeks – bringing mild and wet conditions – were now being replaced by weather from the Continent.
He said: ‘There’s been a pool of colder air over Scandinavia and eastern Europe for some time and we will be tapping into that high-pressure system by the end of the week, bringing cooler air and a drop in temperatures.’
Wet and windy weather has been seen in recent weeks, with provisional data from Jersey Met showing that last month was likely to be the Island’s windiest November since 2009. Towards the end of last month a total of 180.8 millimetres of rain had been recorded, 55% above the average figure – 116.4mm – for the past 30 years.
Mr Winter said that showers in the English Channel were likely to affect Guernsey and Alderney by the end of the week, and that this trend could also bring some further rainfall to Jersey.
