Darren Prescott drew our attention to a possible northerly airstream
for the coming weekend and this possibility is worth checking.

The forecast 500 mb-chart for 18th September '03 shows a long tongue of
cold air stretching from the top of Scandinavia in a SW direction to
the SW of Iceland. It seems to be brought about by a long chain of
NE winds coming out of the Arctic Ocean north of Scandinavia.

As the cold trough swings E'wards towards the British Isles from 18th
to 20th September, warm air drifts from Spain NE'wards towards N
Germany.

On 21st, the cold air from the trough lies just to the W of Britain
and I expect the cold front to be just on the W coast of Ireland. At
the same time, a tongue of warm air is drawn NNW'wards from N Germany up
the N Sea to the W of Norway, thus turning the axis of the cold trough
over the Atlantic in a N-S direction as it approaches Ireland.

On 22nd September the cold air should cover the British Isles with
winds from a NW direction.

On 23rd, warmer atlantic air approaches the British Isles from the W.
By the 24th a HP builds up over the SW of Britian in front of a LP over
mid-Atlantic and draws warmer ait into Europe over the next 3 or 4
days.

So this one appears to be only a small, cold period from the NW.

Cheers, Keith