Wet and blustery weather to return to northwest Europe

Several low pressure systems will bring bouts of rain and gusty winds across northwest Europe through the rest of the week and into the weekend.

The first significant round of rain and gusty winds swept across Ireland and the United Kingdom on Wednesday and Wednesday night.

While Wednesday turned out to be a soggy day across Ireland and the western United Kingdom, much of central and eastern England escaped the wet weather for one more day with rain not arriving until Wednesday night.

AccuWeather Meteorologist Isaac Longley said, "The weather is expected to be quite unsettled across the British Isles and parts of northwest Europe into the weekend as several storm systems move through the region."

This first storm was a quick-hitter and has already swung into southern Scandinavia and Denmark, bringing rain and wind to the region on Thursday.

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Much of the U.K. and Ireland are expected to have a largely dry, but breezy day on Thursday. However, the next front can bring the return of showers to western Britain by the afternoon and evening.

From Thursday night into Friday, this storm system will push a cold front across northwest Europe, bringing more rain and wind to Great Britain. Showers can even wet northern France.

Over the weekend, the third and potentially the most impactful storm is expected to strengthen near Scotland, bringing more rain and wind. This storm may have the best chance at becoming a named windstorm, bringing with it the heaviest rain and strongest wind gusts of the unsettled stretch of weather.

Longley said, "Into the weekend, general rainfall totals of 25-50 mm (1-2 inches) can be expected across western portions of the British Isles and southwestern Norway."

An AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 100 mm (4 inches) can fall in the hardest-hit areas.

He adds, "Rain amounts of 13-50 mm (0.50-1.00 inch) are more likely in eastern Britain -- places like London and Edinburgh for example."

With the storms tracking generally toward Scandinavia, rain and wind will lessen father to the south and east across central and southern Europe. As a result, areas from southern Spain to southern France and into much of Germany and Poland can have largely dry weather this week.

Each storm can also bring with it a period of gusty winds across northwest Europe.

Longley expects gusts up to 35-45 mph (56-72 km/h) across the U.K., Ireland and along the northern coast of France. While not strong enough to bring significant impacts, there can be slower travel due to the gusty winds.

There is potential that the storm over the weekend could bring gusts as high 70 mph (113 km/h) that can lead to localized damage and power cuts.

Also into the weekend, AccuWeather forecasters will be watching Theta, a subtropical storm which sprang to life late Monday night. Theta's life span is expected to be short and the storm may dissipate before bringing widespread impacts to western Europe.

However, if Theta holds together long enough it may help to enhance rainfall across western Europe early next week.

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