Sunshine and up to 23 degrees early in the week, rain on Thursday and Friday: the real cold arrives at the end of October

Autumn in Macedonia is playing its old trick: jacket weather in the morning, T-shirt weather at noon. On Saturday morning Berovo measured around minus four degrees, while the new week starts sunny and pleasant during the day.

Monday is expected to be mostly sunny with a light to moderate northerly wind. In Skopje the morning temperature will drop to 7 and the daytime high will reach 21 degrees, while across the country highs will range from 12 to 23 degrees. Tuesday will be the warmest day of the early week, at around 23 degrees. On Wednesday clouds will build up and the daytime temperature will be around 21 degrees.

The turn comes on Thursday. According to the Hydrometeorological Administration, rain is expected on Thursday and Friday, locally heavy and more abundant.

The long-range forecast is more interesting. According to current projections, daytime temperatures will mostly stay between 19 and 22 degrees until 29 October, but on 30 and 31 October highs drop to around 12 to 13, and mornings to just 1 to 2 degrees. Early November brings 13 to 16 degrees during the day, and from 9 November daytime highs could fall to around 9 degrees. From 11 to 14 November, mornings are forecast to go as low as minus one degree. Anyone who still hasn't dug out their winter coat has about ten more days.