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UPDATE, THURSDAY 12 NOV., 14.00hrs:

So, the expected heavy rain is now upon us and it's proving a frantic day here at the weatherdesk in ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Bristol.

The rest of this afternoon and the early evening will see some treacherous conditions on the roads across the West, with up to 15mm of rain fallingÌýand some strong winds for a while.

I'm especially watching the developments within this front, visible in the rainfall radar image below.Ìý See those bright pink and white areas into Somerset, starting to form discrete lines?Ìý It's the incipient phase of a phenomenon called line convection andÌýwhere these occur, they'reÌýlikely to provide some very squally conditions, perhaps even dropping a small tornado somewhere.

Met Office rainfall radar image for the Westcountry, 13:45hrs, Thursday 12 November 2009

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UPDATE, WEDNESDAY 11 NOV., 16.20hrs:

I justÌýcame offÌýthe 'phone after another briefing from my Met Office colleagues at ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Weather CentreÌý(the inimitable Rob McElwee in this case)Ìý- and the evolving story remains broadly the same, albeit with some key points worth highlighting:

Firstly, whilst we've been emphasising Friday's inclement weather,Ìýlet me stress thatÌýtomorrow evening (Thursday) will also see some very wet and windy weather spreading eastwards, giving worsening conditions for many districtsÌýby the evening rush-hour;

Secondly -Ìýafter only a brief dry interlude later on Thursday night -Ìýthere's a chance that heavy rain could be across the Westcountry even by dawn on Friday - ahead of further very wet and windy weather continuing through the rest of the day.Ìý

And Saturday is now included in the I mentioned in yesterday's blog entry (above).

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ORIGINAL ENTRY, 10.11.09, 17.16HRS

I'm penning this short entry to highlight our growing expectation for the working week to end with some potentially - and I stress potentially -Ìýwild weather.

Yesterday, the for this likelihood, withÌýa focus for the worst weather developing duringÌýFriday evening, overnight into Saturday.

We're still some way off seeing the forecast detail firming-up, but the various forecast models we use (and you can ) paint a broadly similar story: some very wet and very windy weather brewing in the AtlanticÌýby Friday afternoon, with Saturday starting in similar fashion.

More on this asÌýthe forecastÌýdevelops....

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