Cloudy Britain still waits for the start of summer
ALTHOUGH we are now in July, it isn’t feeling like summer yet.
For that you have to head to central, eastern and southern Europe, which are all in the grip of a heatwave, with the Pope sweltering in the Vatican in temperatures of 41C (105.8F).
Inside the Arctic Circle, the inhabitants of Banak in Norway are adjusting their expectations to a record 32.5C (90.5F).
There is something much more familiar in a Britain plagued by rain this past week, with the roof at Wimbledon getting plenty of use.
The cloudy, showery, cool conditions in most parts of the country give way to something slightly more promising this morning, especially if you are in the eastern half of England. It will see the best of the sunshine and the mercury could touch 20C (68F).
The south-east corner will do better, at 23C (73F), but there will always be a breeze and the threat of showers. In Devon, Cornwall and South Wales, there will be more cloud and 19C (66F), while much of north and west Scotland will see heavier rain and 16C (61F).
What has been causing our uninspiring weather is a series of low-pressure systems heading in on cooling north-westerly winds from the Atlantic. They will hang around tomorrow and Tuesday, though there will be more sun, less rain and the temperatures will creep up.
By Wednesday, high pressure will start to build in as the Jet Stream, that ribbon of air currents in the high atmosphere that blow west to east across the Atlantic, switches positions from south of the UK to north. Now we, too, can be on its “hot side”. By next weekend, expect temperatures of 27C (81F) in the south.