THE weekend weather is a tale of two halves with today straightforward and some question over tomorrow but don't shoot the messenger!
Today will see a westerly breeze bringing some good sunny spells and a scattering of showers mostly on the light side and temperatures of 11-13C (52-56F). A chilly night to follow and the mercury down to 2-4C (36-39F) with a touch of ground frost possible.
Now tomorrow is open to debate at the time of writing and the best I can offer is for a dry and sunny day with the odd shower. However, a deep depression will push eastward up the English channel and this may track further north than at present so watch or listen to local forecasts for an update.
The unsettled theme continues through next week with showers or wet and windy spells.
Here we are then into mid-October and so far the weather has been typical for this time of year. Last weekend saw high pressure build in following heavy rain in the previous two days and gave us a sparkling Saturday and good Sunday.
Saturday was the best of the two after early fog patches lifted into good spells of sunshine and excellent visibility. I was on the West Somerset railway and views across the Bristol Channel to south Wales were the best I have seen in years. Temperatures responded with highs of 13-16C (56-61F) quite widely and feeling warm in the light breeze.
Once again I will look back into the archive and this week it's October 1962.
It was a very dry month with no rain recorded between the 3rd and 25th.
Under high pressure it was pleasantly sunny but dense valley fog was reported on seven days.
On the evening of October 18, fog patches were prevalent along the Severn Vale and these contributed to a serious road accident on the A38 between Slimbridge and Berkeley Road.
A minibus travelling toward Gloucester collided head-on with a lorry going to Bristol with both out in the third lane.
The impact ripped the minibus apart and as a result 11 teenagers/adults were killed and others seriously injured in what was and still is the worst road accident in Gloucestershire road history.