Heatwave makes way for the classic British summer
Is it just an interruption in this heatwave summer, or has our brilliant weather gone bung? In the short term there is no sign yet of a return to scorching temperatures. But on the bright side (if you are a farmer or a gardener) there will be rain.
Those lumpy stacks of clouds out in the Atlantic off our western coast are going be dictating what happens to most of us over the next few days. Today, as yesterday, will be warm enough in many places – there is, mercifully, some tropical air mixed in to the low pressure systems that are passing over the UK – but also expect plenty of rain, coming in over Wales and south-western England in the morning and travelling up through the Midlands and the North. It will be heavy at times, but there should be breaks, when the August sun breaks through and heats things up a bit.
So expect 68F (20C) anywhere from Plymouth, through Cardiff and Birmingham to Newcastle and Belfast. Glasgow and Edinburgh will be more like 64F (18C). But over in the east and south-east, most highly favoured in recent weeks by the heatwave, the rain should either stay away or dry up during the morning, making room for the sun and allowing temperatures of 77F (25C) in London and Norwich.
The week ahead will be more of the same. There is a whole series of low pressure systems out there over the Atlantic and, with the jet stream dipping down southwards, the gates will be ajar for them to dominate our weather, everywhere save, perhaps, in that south-east corner of England.
But don’t despair. We are not talking washout, rather a case of rain and then sunshine in the style of a traditional British cricketing summer. If you want the dependable sun that we’ve experienced in the heatwave, you may have to head to continental Europe, from whence it came on southerly breezes that are no longer around.