Some showers in the north and west today, otherwise dry and sunny. Heat building in the south rest of the week, but chance of some rain in the north and showers in the south Friday.
If you are hoping for some rain to quench your parched gardens or fields following weeks of no rain for many, then I’m afraid it’s not looking too promising for those in the southern half of Britain, with little rain on the horizon indicated by the weather models, other than a few hit-and-miss showers on Friday. Not only will it stay mostly dry for the foreseeable, after a few days of more comfortable fresher conditions, the heat will return in the south and will continue through next week. However, northern areas will see a little rain later this week and again at times next week, not a heatwave up north either, though the rain will likely not be enough to stave off the hosepipe bans imminent in NW England or end the one in Northern Ireland.
Already this morning there are some showers, locally heavy, affecting the Central Belt of Scotland and some mainly light ones scattered over other western areas, but elsewhere it's a fine start, chilly overnight in the north, with temperatures dipping into low single figures across parts of northern England under clear skies.
Much of the UK will remain dry with warm sunshine and light winds today. Though we will continue to see a few passing showers across SW England, Wales, NW England, N. Ireland and Scotland through the day, mainly light away from Scotland – where they could be locally heavy. But away from these areas, it's a bright or sunny start and we should see more in the way of sunshine today than yesterday.
Temperatures will reach 19C in Belfast, 21C in Edinburgh and Newcastle, 23C in Cardiff and Plymouth, 24C in Birmingham and 26C in London, so a little warmer than yesterday.
Showers across northern and western areas will tend to fade by late evening, to leave most areas with a dry night and clear spells, with light winds too, there may be some mist patches forming in places in the north. Lows of 8-11C in the north, a warmer 12-16C in the south.
There will again be a lot of sunshine around on Thursday and staying dry for most, this will allow the heat to build across England and Wales. Cooler across Scotland and N. Ireland – where there will be a brisk westerly breeze which will eventually bring thicker cloud and some rain to NW Scotland later in the day. Temperatures reaching 22-25C widely across England and Wales, perhaps 29C in the London area. A cooler 16-21C for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
A frontal system arriving from the northwest will spread cloud and rain, perhaps heavy, down across Scotland and Northern Ireland Thursday night then reaching across northern England on Friday morning. As the frontal system continues to push down across England and Wales, it will weaken, with the rain tending to fizzle out as approaches central and southern England. For the SE of England it will be another hot, dry and sunny day with temperatures reaching 29-30C, though a slight chance of some heavy and thundery showers pushing up from the south in the evening and overnight. Further north cooler with more in the way of cloud but some sunny spells developing behind the weakening front.
Best chance of some rain for many in the coming days will be on Friday
With high pressure extending from the Azores towards the UK, the weekend is looking generally dry with spells of warm sunshine, though the westerly breeze will bring cloudy spells at times. There could be a few showers in the north and east on Saturday, mainly light away from the far north, cloud may thicken across northern and western Scotland on Sunday to bring some patchy rain in the afternoon and evening, otherwise most places will look to stay dry, with the best of the sunshine across the south, where it will be locally hot, perhaps 30C, in the southeast.
