Another hot day today, with the potential for severe thunderstorms once again. Perhaps a touch cooler tomorrow, but still hot with the ongoing threat of storms.
The current situation is typical of a summer close to solar minimum, when changes tend to be slow. So basically what circulation pattern you have, you can keep for weeks, with the Jet Stream often displaced well away from our shores. It's therefore no surprise, that the weather is stuck in a rut at the moment. For central and southern areas this has brought an extended heatwave, but with scattered showers and thunderstorms as well.
A storm forecast has been issued for today - severe thunderstorms possible.
Thunderstorms are a forecasting nightmare, as they can 'pop-up' almost anywhere making them 'hit and miss' affairs. While we can predict to some extent where they're most likely to occur, the storms are often very localised rendering phone apps useless. By using the animation on the Netweather radar you can see the storm coming, particularly useful if you're stuck under low cloud when a heavy downpour can occur quite suddenly, an event that your phone app may not be ready for.
Last nights storms continue to rumble over East Scotland prompting an amber warning with still a few left elsewhere, but these will fade through the morning and move away to the North. A few places are also starting misty and murky, but this'll clear to leave spells of hazy sunshine in yet another very humid day.
Cloud amounts will vary, with a few sharp showers and thunderstorms again developing through the afternoon. Anywhere could catch one but for most, it'll be another stifling summers day, with top temperatures 32 to 35C across the South and South East and more generally 24 to 28C. The North of Scotland and North Sea coasts however, will be somewhat cooler and fresher, in a light East or North Easterly breeze.
There'll be further showers and thunderstorms across the country into the evening, giving local hail, gusty winds, torrential downpours and localised 'flash' flooding. But, these storms continue to be 'hit and miss' with some parts having a lovely, very warm summers evening followed by dry night, while others see storms giving fantastic lightning displays. Mostly eastern counties turn misty and murky again, with North Scotland seeing fewer showers. In another humid night especially in the South, temperatures fall no lower than 17 to 20C and 12 to 15C further North.
It's very much as you were on Thursday, with hazy sunshine triggering more heavy showers and thunderstorms after a grey, misty start in places. These again will cause localised 'flash' flooding, but with the storms mostly concentrated over England and Wales giving more cloud than of late.
This'll help bring temperatures down a little, but a very humid 30C plus is still possible over parts of the South, in light winds that'll be gusty in the vicinity of storms. Over Scotland, it'll be somewhat cooler and fresher in a North Easterly breeze and apart from a few sharp showers in the East and South, it should be mainly dry with sunny spells. Top temperatures here, 16 to 20C.
England and Wales see further showers and storms into the evening, that should slowly fade overnight. Meanwhile, Scotland and much of Northern Ireland should become mainly dry with clear spells developing. Winds generally will be light, with lowest temperatures a humid 16 to 18C in the South and 9 to 13C further North.
