Issued: 0530hrs Friday 23rd December 2016
Duty forecaster: Simon Keeling

Sunny Mediterranean but wet and windy to the north


Friday
A dry day in Spain and Portugal with some good spells of sunshine. Dry in the Balearics too with further spels of sunshine. Some fog patches in Italy but overall fair and dry, although feeling cool. Greece should be dry with sunny spells, although more unsettled weather with rain, showers and snow affecting Turkey.
A few spots of drizzle for western France but fair in the east. Breezy with sunny spells through the Low Countries and northern Germany. Fair in Poland with sunny spells, and this sunshine affecting much of Austria, Hungary and Switzerland too although there could be some morning fog patches here.
Severe gales arriving in western Norway. Breezy for Denmark and rather cloudy. Fair and mild in the Baltic States and Finland. Sweden will be fair throughout the day.

Christmas Eve
A dry and bright day over Portugal and Spain. Spells of sunshine for the Balearics and mostly dry and sunny for Italy too. Sunny spells also affecting much of Greece and Turkey, although some showers to the south.
Rain in central parts of France, most of this patchy. Northern France should be drier and brighter, although southern France will be dry with broken cloud. Breezy through the Low Countries and northern Germany but mostly dry. Breezy in northern Poland too with sunny spells, the best of them to the south.
A windy ride for Father Christmas across Finland tonight where it will be wet. Windy and wet too for the Baltic States. Breezy in southern Sweden with some sunny spells here, although drier and brighter to the north. Windy too across most of Norway with rain in the west, severe gales in places.