Some warm sunshine today, but the outlook is distinctly unsettled.
It’s going to be a case of making the most of the dry weather across many areas of the British Isles through the rest of Tuesday, as changes indeed arrive on Wednesday. The changeable summer weather of late will continue through the remainder of the week, as the reasonable start to the week, is replaced by yet further low pressure and unsettled conditions.
Tuesday is starting dry across many areas, but there is, however, quite a lot of cloud too, as our recent satellite imagery highlights. The cloud is particularly extensive across parts of E Scotland, where there has been some light rain or drizzle this morning and also down across northern and eastern areas of England. However, if you’re just getting up and about then for Wales, southern and south-western parts of England there’s plenty of sunshine to start your day.
Today
Through the course of Tuesday and the mostly cloudy conditions will begin to break up through the morning and into the early afternoon. Bright or sunny spells will develop widely, perhaps with some prolonged spells of sunshine too across more western areas of England and Wales as the day progresses. A few isolated showers may develop, but these will be particularly localised, and many areas will remain dry. However, some wet weather will move into the far west and south-west of Ireland later in the day, this a sign of things to come!
Today is likely to be one of the warmest days of the week. Maximum temperatures across parts of NW England, down into Wales, the Midlands and S England could well reach 23C or 24C, so indeed warm in the sunshine this afternoon. Similar temperatures are possible across parts of Ireland too. It will be cooler across parts of the far north and east though, especially near eastern coastal areas of Scotland and NE England.
Tonight
On into Tuesday night and this is when we see the change too far more unsettled conditions as weather fronts move into the UK from the west. Quite a significant area of low pressure, for the time of year, will develop across the N Atlantic. Weather fronts associated with this low pressure will bring increasingly wet and windy conditions to W Scotland, Ireland, Wales and W England as the night progresses. Outbreaks of light or moderate, locally heavy rain will develop with some increasingly large rainfall totals too across some western areas, where a fresh or strong W or SW’ly wind will develop as well. Across more central and eastern areas of the British Isles though it will be another dry night with clear spells and variable cloud, the wet weather not arriving here until Wednesday.
A Wet and Windy Wednesday
The wet and windy conditions across more western areas first thing on Wednesday is then forecast to move eastwards as the day progresses. Fortunately, the wet weather will move through quite quickly, so some improvement will take place through the afternoon. Brighter and drier weather will follow from the west, but blustery showers will then begin to develop through Wednesday evening, especially across more northern and western areas of the British Isles, with an almost early-autumnal feel to the weather here as winds pick up with near gales possible.
Temperatures on Wednesday will be lower than compared with the previous few days as cooler and fresher Atlantic air spreads across many regions once the wet and windy weather has cleared away to the east. Maximum temperatures will range between 14C and 20C across most parts, but perhaps still rising to near 21C or 22C across E Anglia for a brief time during the late morning or early afternoon.
Looking ahead to the rest of the week and it is low pressure, quite an unusual one for the time of year, that will become slow moving just to the north-west of the British Isles that will dominate the weather. If you’re hoping for some summer sun and high temperatures then you’ll likely be disappointed as many areas experience sunshine and showers. It is probable that most of the showers will develop across Scotland, Ireland, N England and Wales, where they will be locally heavy and where it will remain very windy as well. Fewer showers for more southern and eastern areas of England mind, where some sunshine will develop at times.
However, another low pressure may well then arrive from the south-west during Friday, and this is likely to bring a renewed risk of more prolonged spells of rain moving north and east across England and Wales during late Friday and into the weekend, as the unsettled period of weather continues as we approach the end of July.