Wales is set to see another unsettled weekend of unsettled weather. While there could be settled weather overnight on Friday, December 20 and into Saturday, December 21, there could be strong winds on Sunday, December 22.
It comes after the Met Office issued a weather warning for high winds for Sunday, with the whole of Wales being warned of winds of up to 70mph on the day. It also comes on a weekend that is expected to be busy on the roads as people head away for Christmas breaks.
With that in mind, we’ve taken a look at the areas affected by rain, cold temperatures and maximum wind gusts over this weekend based on Met Office weather maps. For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter.
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Friday, December 20
9am
Friday 9am -Credit:Met Office
It’ll be a mostly dry start for Wales on Friday morning, but patches of rain to the south of the country. It’ll be at its heaviest in areas of Cardiff, as well as near the coast of Neath Port Talbot. Maximum wind gust will be around 30mph for most areas, but as much as 40mph in areas such as Holyhead in Anglesey.
12pm
Friday 12pm -Credit:Met Office
By midday, it will be a very different picture. The heavy rain will have shifted from Ireland, across the Irish sea and into Wales. The heaviest will be in the western part of Wales, with as much as 4-8mm/ hour of rainfall in some areas.
2pm
Friday 2pm -Credit:Met Office
The rain will have shifted more east towards the afternoon, leaving areas such as the Llyn Peninsula in Gwynedd and Anglesey largely dry. There could be as much as 8-16mm/hour of rainfall in areas of Powys.
4pm
Friday 4pm -Credit:Met Office
The rain will have cleared in the north, east and west, but will persist in the south of Wales. There could be as much as 8-16mm/hour of rainfall of the coast of Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan.
6pm
Friday 6pm -Credit:Met Office
By 6pm, the rain will have cleared for most of Wales. Temperatures will be below 10C for most places – 9C in Caernarfon, 8C in Cardiff and Swansea, and 7C in Newtown in Powys.
10pm
Friday 10pm -Credit:Met Office
Throughout the evening, Met Office predicts it will remain relatively dry for most of Wales.
Saturday, December 21
3am
Saturday 3am -Credit:Met Office
Although a dry morning, heavy rain could be travelling across the Irish Sea. Once again, temperatures will be around 10C – 9C in Aberystwyth, 8C in Cardiff and around 7C in Merthyr Tydfil. The maximum wind gust will have reached 44mph in Amlwch but 45mph in Holyhead.
6am
Saturday 6am -Credit:Met Office
The rain will be at its heaviest in inland areas – from Eryri national park up in the north, down to Powys, Merthyr Tydfil and Bridgend county. There could be as much as 4-8mm/ hour of rainfall for these parts.
9am
Saturday 9am -Credit:Met Office
Later that morning, there will be large patches of rain for some parts of Wales, particularly affecting south-east of Wales in areas such as Monmouthshire and Newport, a band of rain stretching over parts of Pembrokeshire, as well as clusters of rain in the north of the country.
12pm
Saturday 12pm -Credit:Met Office
By midday however, most of this rain is set to clear with only a few clusters in counties such as Powys and Merthyr Tydfil.
3pm
Saturday 3pm -Credit:Met Office
Once again, the Met Office predicts there will only be clusters of rain.
5pm
Saturday 5pm -Credit:Met Office
In the early evening, patches of rain will be predominantly affecting the north Wales area. There could be as much as 50mph gusts of wind in areas such as Caernarfon in Gwynedd, 48mph in Pembroke and 45mph in Cardiff.
8pm
Saturday 8pm -Credit:Met Office
Those patches will have shifted to more inland areas. Temperatures will be below 10C for most parts.
10pm
Saturday 10pm -Credit:Met Office
Although small, the rainfall will be at its heaviest in areas of Powys by 10pm. As much as 55mph gusts of wind could reach areas such as Pembroke, 50mph in Aberystwyth and 42mph in Wrexham at this point.
Sunday, December 22
8am
Sunday 8am -Credit:Met Office
Overnight and into Sunday morning, the rain will have spread to most parts of Wales. There will be clusters of heavy rain in areas such as Powys and Monmouthshire.
12pm
Sunday 12pm -Credit:Met Office
But by midday, it is predicted that most of the rainfall will have cleared. Meanwhile, there could be as much as 68mph gusts of wind in areas such as Holyhead in Anglesey, 65mph in St David’s and 54mph in Swansea.
3pm
Sunday 3pm -Credit:Met Office
Some patches of rain will affect inland areas. Meanwhile, maximum gusts of wind could reach 65mph in Amlwch, 64mph in Holyhead, 61mph in Colwyn Bay, 58mph in Aberaeron, 57mph in Pembroke and 54mph in Llantwit Major in the Vale of Glamorgan.
6pm
Sunday 6pm -Credit:Met Office
But most of Wales will remain largely dry towards the evening. There will be some patches in the Wrexham, Denbighshire and Gwynedd areas of the north, with some rain hitting areas of Ceredigion, Powys and Carmarthenshire around this time too.
9pm
Sunday 9pm -Credit:Met Office
By 9pm however, most of this will have cleared. Temperatures will be below 10C on Sunday evening – 7C in areas such as Caernarfon, 6C in Pembroke and around 5C in Cardiff. The maximum gusts of wind could be as high as 51mph in Caernarfon, Aberystwyth and Pembroke.