UK Weather: 'Anti cyclonic gloom' set to lift next week after almost no sunshine

The Met Office has said that the gloom, which has seen murky conditions settle in skies above the UK for just over a week. The conditions have seen very little sun, wind or rain fall in the part fortnight, with the country experiencing on average only three hours of sunshine in the whole of the seven days up to Thursday (November 7).

The ‘anti-cyclonic gloom’ is “unusual but not unheard of”, according to the Met Office expert, but is has meant that the country had had only 5% of the average sunshine expected for November.

ITV weather presenter Becky Mantin said that conditions have created a “staggering lack of sunshine”. She said: “For some, there has been no respite at all – Odiham in Hampshire has recorded zero minutes of sunshine so far this November. Wales takes the unenviable second place spot with an average of just 12 minutes! Forty eight minutes recorded in Northern Ireland and only a touch more in southern England with 54 minutes.”

But it looks set to change from early next week. Met Office spokesman Stephen Dixon said: “We’ve been locked into this weather pattern for a few days now and we’ve got a bit more of it to come. However, there is a change on the way, with brighter skies early next week.”

“By the time we get to Sunday, we start to see this change on the way, with fronts moving in from the north-west bringing periods of rain to the west of Scotland through Sunday. But it also allows a change of air mass across the UK which invites another area of high pressure from the west – but, this time, with much less cloud on it.”

Mr Dixon added: “What it means for the UK’s weather is that, by Monday, it’s looking like a widely dry and fine day for many with good spells of sunshine, albeit with a touch more patchy cloud in the north of the country. But, for the vast majority, a dry and fine day for many with some sunshine, which will feel like it’s much needed after the recent week.”