The UK is set to experience a heatwave with temperatures reaching 30C before the weather improves and thunderstorms are expected to roll in, bringing heavy rain and flooding to some areas.
Britons are expecting thunderstorms and heavy rain that could cause flooding in the second half of next week.
The recent warm weather is set to continue through the weekend and the mercury could reach 30C by next Tuesday before the maps turn blue, showing the arrival of storm clouds. The positioning of the jet stream has played a big part in the conditions, as its movement northwards across the UK allows warm air to move in from the continent and high pressure dominates the country.
But by next Wednesday, low pressure will move in, bringing thunderstorms, and then maps show further heavy rain arriving in the north-west of the UK on Thursday from Greenland, although temperatures are not expected to drop too much.
Maps from Ventusky and WXCharts first show a low pressure system bringing thunderstorms from France on Wednesday, before a low pressure system brings heavy rain from the northwest. And BBC forecaster Chris Fawkes also predicts a likely return of rain midweek.
“It’s going to be quite a warm spell,” Mr Fawkes said, looking ahead to the next seven days. “Monday will see a high pressure area, we’ll have dry sunny weather again, there might be a bit more cloud for the Hebrides, maybe a bit of rain here, but overall it’s another pretty decent day. In the sunshine we’ll see temperatures well into the 20s again, Aberdeen 22s, Belfast 21s, we’ll get to 28s in the south-east of England, with the highest temperatures in parts of the Midlands, East Anglia and south-east of England.
“It will be the hot spots again on Tuesday, which should be another sunny and dry day for most people. However, I can’t rule out the odd thunderstorm moving in towards parts of the west. Temperatures remain well above average, 23C in Newcastle, still 28C in London, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see temperatures in the 30C range in the warmer areas.
“However, towards the middle of next week we will start to see this area of low pressure bring thundery rain from France. Now the details of who will get the heaviest rain are still very uncertain, but it could be one of those things where we will see some localised areas of flooding. Even if these thunderstorms come in on Wednesday, there will be some showers following, but temperatures are not too bad, staying well above 20C in most areas. In the north-west of the UK we will probably see a more general change to more cloudy rain as we approach Thursday.”
The Met Office’s forecast for 31 July to 9 August predicts a split with rain for the north-west of the country. It states: “Late July and early August will generally be dominated by a northwest-southeast split. North-west areas are likely to experience rather windy conditions with cloud and some showers of rain or drizzle as weakened Atlantic frontal systems attempt to move eastwards across the UK.
“Towards the south and east, the weather will be generally drier and brighter, although there is also a slight possibility of thundery showers from the neighbouring continent. Temperatures during this period are likely to be close to or slightly above average overall, with the likelihood of very warm conditions developing in the south and perhaps parts of the east at times.”
