A fresher weekend with a scattering of showers for summertime sporting events

Coming up, we have the British Grand Prix, more Wimbledon, racing at Haydock and home nations in the Euros. The weekend looks rather mixed with the warmest weather over eastern England on Saturday, and then southeast England on Sunday. There will be showery rain from the west on Saturday, some running along the English Channel and then rain from the north on Sunday with a cooler feel to the air. However, in between there will be bright or sunny times and it will always feel warm in any sheltered sunshine. This is a different, fresher air flow,  not the heat of last weekend, but still with strong July sunshine.

For the start of the weekend, there will be a brisk westerly flow off the Atlantic. Frontal bands from a low pressure to the north of the UK will sweep over, reaching southwards through Britain on Saturday. This will push away the high pressure and fine, warm weather from Friday, which England and Cardiff have enjoyed.

Formula 1 - The four-day festival has begun at Silverstone with music and entertainment. There is free-practice on Friday with rain later on. Qualifying on Saturday with a low risk of a shower, mostly it looks fine and bright. The main event - the British Grand Prix is on Sunday 6th at the Silverstone Circuit. There should be plenty of dry weather over the weekend but with more cloud, the temperatures won’t be as high as on Friday, 24C then 21C. Again, on Sunday, there is a small risk of a shower, but it will feel warm when the sunshine appears. 

Netweather Radar from Friday afternoon 

Horse Racing - In Merseyside, the Old Newton Cup Festival includes horse racing at Haydock Park and Tom Jones singing live on Friday evening. Unfortunately, it looks like the rain from the northwest will set in with a blustery, cooling wind. The three-day festival reaches its climax with the Old Newton Cup flat race on Saturday afternoon. Saturday does look drier and brighter after the overnight rain. The going on Friday was Good, Good to Firm in places. It will feel pleasantly warm in any sheltered sunny spots, up to 21C but cooler in the breeze. 

A cold front has made all the difference to the UK and northern mainland Europe this week, even reaching Switzerland for the Euros football on Friday. The Championships at Wimbledon had a hot and humid start in London, but it is now less oppressive and muggy for the tennis players and spectators. It is also fresher at night for those queuing outside. 

Saturday should be fair, although with a good deal of cloud. If the sun does break through, it will feel warmer but temperatures at the weekend are expected to be around 21 to 24C. There could be some morning showers on Sunday, as a line moves southeastwards but by the time play begins it should be dry. 

The impressive cold front brought thundery rain to Switzerland early on Friday morning but allowed some relief for the teams who are playing on Saturday after the heatwave event. It is still warm by day, up to 29C in Lucerne and Zurich and not cooling down too much in the evening with little breeze. It does look fine and dry and warm for the fans watching Wales and then England play their first matches in the women’s Euros 2025. 

By Sunday, the UK will be in the cooler flow from the north to northwest. Any sunny areas will still feel that warmth but the air will feel fresher and certainly very different to the muggy, close air of last week. London should feel fine at 24C. The breeze will bring a scattering of showers down over Britain and Northern Ireland with more wet weather reaching Grampian by lunchtime. That wet weather could then move down through eastern Scotland on Sunday afternoon, accompanied by a north wind and continue southwards over eastern Britain. Northern Ireland will have bands of sharp showers and other areas in bright sunshine, again with a fresh N/NW breeze.