BRITS may have to endure a bit of a soaking before temperatures rise towards the end of the working week – and things are set to get hotter still.
Temperatures are predicted to rise to a rather cosy 28C on Friday in the south east while the rest of the UK will see the thermometer around the low 20Cs.
The beach at Lyme Regis, Dorset, was packed out yesterday
Friday could see the mercury hit 28C in the south east
Temperatures are expected to hit 31C next Wednesday as the heat returns to the UK
Knoll Beach near Studland, Dorset, was also packed out
Before that though, rain is expected in many parts outside of the south and east which is already heading towards drought conditions, due to a high pressure system which also covers most of Europe.
There will be large areas of cloud around and outbreaks of rain across Wales, the Midlands and northern England which will track northwards into southern Scotland during the day.
It will be a bright day on Friday with spells of sunshine and variable amounts of cloud cover and a chance of a few showers.
Rain will push into the north-west later. Thick cloud will build on Saturday bringing outbreaks of rain which will ease and turn increasingly light and patchy.
High temperatures are expected to carry on into next week and forecasters predict temperatures could hit 31C next Wednesday.
BBC weather forecaster Matt Taylor said: “With some southern parts of England yet to record a significant drop of rainfall this month it’s not just the keen gardeners who are after some wet weather.
“If you start with the 10-day trend it’s not very optimistic as the high pressure is dominating to the south and east of us, low pressure every so often coming into the north and west.
“So it is here where we will see some rain at times while southern and eastern areas they are going to continue to dip into this hot and dry weather every now and again so temperatures will fluctuate.
“But it is does mean there will be these big disparities over who sees the rain.
“Some of the wettest conditions will be around the coasts and hills across northern and western areas but even in the next 10 days while we could see some rainfall it won’t be hugely significant on what has been an exceptionally dry month so far.”
Looking at today, Mr Taylor’s BBC colleague Stav Danaos said it should feel a bit warmer than Tuesday.
He said: “It felt rather cool for the time of year on Tuesday across much of the country particularly in the north and the north west, we have also had one or two heavy showers around but high pressure dominates the scene as well as we head into Wednesday.
“Its centre will be pushing towards the east of the country so that means we will import air from the south which is always a slightly warmer direction so it will feel a touch warmer I think across the country on Wednesday.”
He added: “It is warming up as we end the week for all areas but particularly England and Wales, there won’t be wall to wall sunshine there will be quite a lot of cloud around and also some showers around affecting more northern and western areas.”
As for Friday, he said: “Again a warm day up to 22C in Scotland perhaps up to 27C or 28C in the south east.”
Brits may have to endure a shower or two before the sunshine returns
Beach goers cool off in the sea at Weymouth in Dorset
