Pressure On The Rise And No End To The Dry Spell In Sight

With pressure rising again, there's still no end in sight to the long dry spell. Good news if you like the heat, but bad news for farmers and gardeners increasingly desperate for rain. The only hope is that you may be lucky enough to catch the odd rogue shower, with just the hint that around mid-July we may see more in the way of showers and storms briefly, followed by a cooler interval.

There's quite a lot of cloud this morning across Northern Ireland and in the East, that'll soon burn back to the coast. Low cloud and mist over parts of the Midlands will also quickly lift and clear. It's already sunny over Wales, central Scotland, the South and the Home Counties, with most parts having yet another very dry, sunny, high summers day. The exception will be the far North West of Scotland and across the NorthernIsles where a front is giving some rain at the moment, but this too will clear. There'll be some build up of cloud in places later chiefly over northern England and in the far South East, where a few sharp showers could develop. The odd one over Essex, Kent and Suffolk could be torrential giving thunder, but they will be isolated, with the chances of catching a shower at Wimbledon small.

Winds generally will be light, with a North Westerly breeze in the East keeping coastal areas cooler. Over Scotland, it'll be warmer than yesterday as will be Northern Ireland although, towards Tyrone and Fermanagh, you're likely to have more in the way of cloud. Top temperatures 14 to 16C in the far North West and 19 to 23C elsewhere. Across England and Wales it'll become hot and quite humid once more, with the highest temperatures mostly between 25 and 28C, but up to 29 or 30 and locally a very hot 31C over parts of the South. Sea breezes though will keep some coastal areas refreshingly cooler.

Any showers will melt away into a generally fine, warm, summery evening, ideal in fact if you fancy a barbecue. A dry, largely clear night will follow, and with light winds, mist and the odd patch of fog could form in some rural areas later, but any will be short-lived soon dispersing after sunrise. Low cloud may also return to some eastern regions in a humid rather sticky night in the South, where temperatures shouldn't fall below 15 to 17C. Further North it'll be somewhat cooler 11 to 14C.

Saturday brings much of the same, as a large anticyclone becomes established across the country. So it'll be yet another fine, very dry, sunny day in most places, once patches of mist and low cloud have cleared. Exceptions could be parts of Northern Ireland and the West of Scotland where more in the way of cloud could produce a few locally sharp showers, but they'll be hit and miss. Any isolated showers that develop across England and Wales in the heat of the day are most likely to be in hilly areas, but for many, the drought will continue.

Winds'll remain light, except across the far North West where there'll be a southerly breeze. Over Scotland and Northern Ireland, top temperatures of 21 to 25C away from the far North West and the Northern Isles, will be up a few degrees on Friday. Across England and Wales, it'll be another very hot afternoon, with the England v Sweden match best viewed in the shade, as temperatures reach 26 to 29C widely and a stifling 31 or 32C that's (90F) in 'old money' over and to the West of London.

The far North West may continue to see more cloud, but for the bulk of the country, it'll be yet another one of those fine, warm summery evenings for that celebratory barbecue if England win, as they should. A fine largely clear night will follow, with mist a few fog patches forming in rural areas briefly around dawn. It'll be another warm, humid night in the South making it difficult for sleeping, with temperatures unlikely to fall below 15 to 17C and 18 or 19C  in built-up areas. Further North it'll also remain very mild, with minimum temperatures here mostly in the range 12 to 14C.