Is it too soon to expect warm weather?

We've just set the clocks to British Summer Time, and many of us are starting to think about the warmer days ahead. But when will it warm up properly?

The reality is that spring is usually a season of huge contrasts, when the weather is most capricious. We may long for prolonged warmth and sunshine, but it's still much too early to have those kinds of expectations.

In the UK, conditions are often what we forecasters call "unsettled" - rain one day, sunshine and showers the next, clear blue skies after that and then back to wet weather again.

It's not always like that, of course, but our weather is rarely stable.

So, it's fascinating how many of us are still taken by surprise by just how much the weather flips in spring - the very season when it's meant to change most of all.

We all know how strong the Sun can feel against our faces on a bright April day, only to be stopped in our tracks just around the corner by a sudden gust of icy wind. This particularly noticeable in the morning on days with dazzling blue skies.

Why is that?

At this time of year, air from the polar regions is still very chilly. In fact, it can be so cold in northern latitudes that, by our standards, it is practically still winter.

As this chilly Arctic air sweeps south, it often brings crisp, clear nights and morning frosts. Yet at the same time, the strengthening spring Sun becomes increasingly effective at warming the land.

It's not uncommon for the diurnal range - the temperature difference between morning and afternoon - to reach as much as 20 degrees.

And that's not all - the showers then follow.

Occasionally, the air becomes what we call unstable. As the strong Sun heats it from below, the air begins to rise in powerful vertical currents called thermals. These, in turn, rise through the atmosphere to produce towering shower clouds, accompanied by cold, gusty winds but with spells of warm sunshine in between. We call these "April showers".

It's quite common to also get thunder, lightning, sleet, and small hail - the hail often resembling polystyrene balls, usually no larger than peas.

April showers tend to be brief but frequent and may only cover a small area at a time.

This means one neighbourhood might be drenched, while a mile away we're basking in sunshine in a park, sheltered from the wind by a row of trees.

However, sometimes April showers fail to arrive at all.

Ironically, when many of us were stuck at home during the Covid-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020, a prolonged spell of dry and settled weather engulfed the UK from the south - a spring many of us remember so vividly, not least because we couldn't fully make the most of it.

Rather than cold air from the north, which produces showers, warm air and high pressure settled over the country, bringing dazzling sunshine and stable air - it was exceptional.

The run-up to Easter will bring typical spring weather with fleeting rain, while Easter itself is currently set to become quite blustery.

It's increasingly likely that Saturday night an intense low pressure will sweep towards the north-west of the UK, bringing the threat of severe gales.

But the warmth will come - eventually. Perhaps that is the beauty of spring - the contrasts, and the anticipation of the gradual arrival of summer.

Keep up to date by checking your forecast on the BBC Weather website and app, and for a longer view ahead, you can read our latest thoughts in our monthly outlook.