The WeatherRadar currently looks like a “patchwork quilt”, with many rain and snow showers are forming this week from the North Sea and Arctic Ocean.

These are moving southwards, initially passing over the UK and Ireland before moving into France and Central Europe.

From the middle of the week, showers will also develop over the Bay of Biscay, targeting Spain and Portugal.

The cause of the countless showers is very cold air in higher layers of the atmosphere, which sweeps over warmer seawater, which is often still around 10 °C at this time of year.

The large temperature differences above and below cause particularly heavy shower activity.