AbstractWe study numerical approximations for a class of singularly perturbed convection-diffusion type problems with a moving interior layer. In a domain (segment) with a moving interface between two subdomains, we consider an initial boundary value problem for a singularly perturbed parabolic convection-diffusion equation. Convection fluxes on the subdomains are directed towards the interface. The solution of this problem has a moving transition layer in the neighbourhood of the interface. Unlike problems with a stationary layer, the solution exhibits singular behaviour also with respect to the time variable. Well-known upwind finite difference schemes for such problems do not converge ε-uniformly in the uniform norm. In the case of rectangular meshes which are (a priori or a posteriori ) locally condensed in the transition layer. However, the condition for convergence can be considerably weakened if we take the geometry of the layer into account, i.e., if we introduce a new coordinate system which captures the interface. For the problem in such a coordinate system, one can use either an a priori, or an a posteriori adaptive mesh technique. Here we construct a scheme on a posteriori adaptive meshes (based on the solution gradient), whose solution converges ‘almost ε-uniformly’.