Rinse and repeat: Shropshire weather forecast predicts another soaking at the weekend

The Met Office says 2023 will end on an unsettled note with strong winds, rain and even snow featuring in parts of the UK.

They say an area of low pressure which pushes in from the west on Saturday will be the most dominant feature in the forecast leading up to the new year.

"The challenging conditions brought by Storm Gerrit have now eased, but Thursday will continue to be blustery with showers, some heavy and more organised in parts," says the Met Office.

They add that Friday continues this general theme with some central locations likely to see the brightest conditions.

But during the early hours of Saturday morning they say a potentially deep area of low pressure will move in from the west to affect Ireland and western parts of the UK.

At the moment it doesn't look like snow will be a feature in the Midlands though. But they say a band of "transient snow" could be a feature further north.

"As the system moves eastwards, the boundary between the area of low pressure and the relatively colder conditions further north and east will lead to a band of transient snow across some of the high ground of northern England and Scotland.

"It is possible this snow could fall to lower levels for a brief period of time across Scotland."

Steven Ramsdale is a Met Office Chief Forecaster.

He said: “This system is likely to bring a range of weather including hill snow.

"Heavy rain will spread across all but the far north on Saturday affecting similar areas previously affected by Storm Gerrit. However, this rainfall will be a step down from that seen during Storm Gerrit.”

Looking further ahead into 2024, there is low forecast confidence.

Nick Silkstone is a Met Office Deputy Chief Forecaster. He said: “Through to mid-January, there is a signal for a shift in the pattern compared to the winter so far, with more settled and colder-than-average conditions becoming increasingly likely.”