The heatwave is coming to a close, to be replaced by cooler conditions with the threat of thunderstorms.
For many parts of the UK, the heatwave will be at or near its peak today, but we are expecting some showers and thunderstorms to break out over much of Scotland and Northern Ireland. There will be a breakdown early next week, with some showers and thunderstorms breaking out more widely for a time, followed by cooler and mainly cloudy weather spreading from the north. Towards the end of next week we may see the weather turn more settled with some sunshine, with temperatures lower than on recent days.
For most of England and Wales, today will be another dry and sunny day, but some fog and low cloud will continue to affect coastal areas of northern and eastern Scotland and north-east England, tending to retreat to coastal fringes during the afternoon. For most inland parts of central and southern England, temperatures will reach 31 to 33C, but 34 or 35C may be reached locally.
However, cloudier skies are expected to spread northwards up the eastern side of England during the afternoon and evening. Some scattered showers and thunderstorms will break out over Northern Ireland, especially around midday and during the afternoon. Showers and thunderstorms will also break out over much of Scotland during the afternoon and evening, though Aberdeenshire in particular is likely to stay dry. Away from central and southern England, today's highs will mostly be between 26 and 30C, but it will be cooler in north-west Scotland and the north of Northern Ireland, and along coastal fringes of eastern Scotland and north-east England.
Tonight will be on the warm side for many parts of the UK with much of eastern England only falling to around 20C. Central and northern parts of Scotland will be cooler, falling to 11 to 13C. Some showers, accompanied by thunder in places, will affect the West Country, west Wales, north-west England and southern and eastern Scotland.
Rain will affect much of central, western and northern Scotland during Monday, some of which may again be accompanied by thunder. A weaker band of rain or showers will slowly spread eastwards through Wales and western England, tending to fizzle out as it does so. It will generally be cloudier than in recent days, but some sunny spells are expected to develop, particularly over Northern Ireland and central and eastern parts of England. Some thunderstorms will break out during the afternoon and evening, mainly in central and eastern England, with potential for some significant thunderstorms to develop around the Pennines and the West Country in the evening.
With more cloud than today, it will generally be cooler on Monday, but eastern England, away from North Sea coasts, will generally reach between 29 and 32C, with potential for highs of 30 or 31C as far north as Yorkshire. Monday night into Tuesday will be another warm night for eastern England.
On Tuesday there is potential for substantial thunderstorms and heavy rain over England and Wales, particularly in the Midlands and north-east England. It will be much cooler than of late over most of England and Wales, with a high of 24 to 26C in the south-east. It will be cooler and drier over Scotland and Northern Ireland, with a cooler air mass spreading from the north, and here the top temperature will typically be between 15 and 18C. Some sunshine will break through over Northern Ireland and north-west Scotland, and there will be some sunshine in between the showers and thunderstorms in southern England, but otherwise it will be generally cloudy.
The cool and generally dry but cloudy weather will spread southwards to most of the UK on Wednesday, but it will still be relatively warm with thundery downpours and some sunny spells in the south of England. Sunshine will develop more widely over Northern Ireland and western and northern Scotland. Highs will mostly be between 17 and 20C, but 21-23C in the south of England.
Through Thursday and Friday, an area of dry and sunny weather looks set to spread from the north-west. Eastern England may be generally cloudy on Thursday, but with sunny weather developing elsewhere. On Friday it will be the turn of central and eastern England to be dry and mainly sunny, with cloudier weather spreading into the north and west of Britain with rain mainly for western Scotland. Temperatures will recover towards the end of the week, though it will not be as hot as on recent days. Much of England can expect highs between 22 and 25C on Friday.
