UK weather: Met Office forecasts more showers before last hot spell of this year

Mix of sunshine and showers expected this weekend before weather gets warmer

The UK is set to experience another warm spell by the end of this week but after some more thunderstorms and showers lash the country, the Met Office forecast suggested.

As a low pressure system continues to dominate, the next couple of days can be a mix of sunshine and thunderstorms, the Met Office said.

However, another warm spell is on the charts when temperatures could rise slightly higher than average even as the meteorological summer season ends and autumn begins, and before mid-September brings more unsettled conditions as Britain feels the impacts of the Atlantic “hurricane season”.

On Wednesday, the Met Office forecast said a mixture of sunshine and scattered showers are expected across the UK, with some showers possibly getting heavy in eastern England.

Many southern and western areas however are turning drier by the afternoon, the forecaster said.

It may feel a little warmer for many as temperature rise slightly higher than previous days, with charts showing mercury around 20-22C in several areas.

But as the day progresses, rain is expected to spread into southwest England and southwest Wales, and perhaps Northern Ireland, the forecaster said.

Thursday will be off to a humid start for many as clouds and rain slowly spread east and north throughout the day, turning heavy in places. The weather will, however, remain largely fine across much of Scotland and northeastern England.

But Friday is when heavier showers are set to lash large parts of the country, except Scotland where the weather will remain largely dry.

Over the weekend, the weather once again turns dry and fine as a high-pressure system moves in with increasing amounts of sunshine.

Temperatures can climb higher than average, reaching 23-24C in the south by the end of the week, weather charts showed.

But in the extended outlook, the Met Office forecast suggests a return to changeable weather patterns as autumn sets and the Atlantic hurricane season begins, with northern and western areas more susceptible to fluctuations.

Peak hurricane season typically falls around 10 September. While the waters around the UK are not warm enough to sustain full-blown hurricanes, big weather systems developing in the Atlantic do have a downstream impact on Britain. These can be unpredictable and “only become apparent at shorter timescales”, the Met Office warned.

Overall, temperatures are expected to remain around the average range in this period, the forecaster said.