Torrential rain and near gale-force winds threaten a washout in parts, while elsewhere basks in Easter sunshine.
Britain will be split down the middle this weekend with western regions braced for flood as temperatures rocket to the east.
A storm swirling in the Atlantic will hurl bouts of rain towards the UK on Good Friday with the worst of the weather expected through the start of the weekend.
Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: “A weather system is pushing in from the southwest on Friday, so across Northern Ireland, parts of Wales and southwest England is going to turn cloudier as we go through the early hours of Friday morning, and the winds will pick up and there will be some heavy rain.
Troublemaking low to the west
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“We are talking about gusts of around 30- to 35mph, so nothing exceptional but still a blustery picture.
“In the east it is still going to feel warm and in the sunshine some of those temperatures will feel similar to Thursday, maybe a degree or so down, but further west, with the cloud the wind and the rain it is going to feel markedly unpleasant.”
More than an inch of rain will fall on ground already saturated after days of downpours, he warned.
People on the go for Easter are urged to keep an eye on forecasts and factor in disruption.
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Met Office’s Alex Burkill warns low pressure will come in from the west
MET OFFICE
Low pressure to the west will sink southwards through the weekend, allowing the clouds to part more widely.
Burkill said: “But as we go further into the Easter weekend, we are going to see the low-pressure system which brings the unsettled weather to the west pushing a little bit further southwards as we go through Saturday, so further north and east there will be a good deal of fine and often sunny weather.
“For many places, Easter Sunday looks like a fairly decent day with a lot of dry weather around if you are planning an Easter Egg hunt and perhaps around central and eastern parts, a lot of sunshine around.
“So, a lot of dry weather and perhaps the driest day of the long weekend for many.”
Met Office’s Alex Burkill warns low pressure will come in from the west
MET OFFICE
Holidaymakers are warned to ‘plan carefully’ for disruption this weekend as the weather turns nasty.
As wind and rain blow in from the west, scattered thunderstorms could pop up more widely.
Jim Dale, meteorologist for British Weather Services and social commentator, said: “It is important for people to plan careful this weekend, because for many, Easter is going to be the opposite from what we have seen so far this spring.
“There will be some very heavy rain and the risk of flooding in parts of the country, and there will be the risk of thunder.
“The weather is going to be nothing like we have had over the past few weeks.”
