Come back sun! The Bank Holiday is on the horizon
There is a temptation, since we are in mid-summer, to hope that the burst of much-needed rain (especially in the south and east) we have had this past week will be sufficient for the time being. Come back sun before the schools go back! The week ahead looks likely to half satisfy such ambitions, but going forward to the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of the month, the prospects are potentially brighter.
Today will start warm and dry in most parts, but with a covering of cloud, especially down the eastern side of the UK. As the day wears on, low pressure approaching from the Atlantic will bring with it some outbreaks of rain, but nothing too torrential. Temperatures, encouragingly, will be above average, especially where the sun breaks through, so expect 75F (24C) in southern, south-eastern and eastern parts of England, 70F (21C) in the south west from Cornwall through to South Wales, spreading up into the Midlands and north west England, and 64F (18C) in the central belt of Scotland.
As we move into Monday, the rain will pass over much of the country but sunny spells and briefer showers will follow in behind from the west as quieter, still warm conditions take hold. And as the week progresses, there will be a push-and-pull over the UK between further low pressure trying to make its way in from the west, bringing more rain, and the return of the high pressure from the south west that has made so much of this summer such a hot and dry one.
Which one will prevail as England and Wales enjoy a Bank Holiday getaway as their last hurrah of the summer of 2022 is still in the balance, but high pressure at the moment has the edge. If that continues, the week will end well: sunny skies, no rain, temperatures up to 79F (26C), and an irresistible invitation to make one more trip to the seaside.