Heatwave rumours blown out of the water for soaking Scots

WE were promised a heatwave, but Scotland is instead set to suffer two days of torrential rain this week, followed by one day of decent weather.

As Londoners stand by for temperatures of 25C (77F), Scots have been given a warning of severe weather which may produce gales and flooding today.

The Met Office forecasts up to two inches of rain will fall on high ground in Southern Scotland, bursting riverbanks and potentially inundating homes and businesses.

While temperatures are creeping up north of the Border, a high of 18C (64F) is the best we can expect on Thursday, before things begin to cool off by the weekend. By next Monday, Scotland will be back to a modest 12C (54F).

John West of the Met Office said: ‘Scotland is going to get its share of the warm conditions – just not the lion’s share.

‘At the moment, there’s a rather wet and windy outlook to the weather in Scotland, particularly for the west of the country.

‘There is a yellow warning of rain, lasting into Tuesday morning, when surface water could be a real problem.’

The areas affected include the SouthWest, Lothian and Borders and Strathclyde. Higher ground in Dumfries and Galloway could get up to two inches of rain.

Mr West said the difficulty is being caused by a deep area of low pressure in the Atlantic. This is a reversal of the Beast from the East phenomenon, which dragged in cold air from Siberia last month.

With the wind now coming from the West, Scotland will find itself on the receiving end of warmer weather fronts, albeit still bearing rain.

Mr West said: ‘You will hang on to wet and windy conditions until midweek, when high pressure building from the South will spread northwards to Scotland. Warm air is being pulled up from the Azores, which should see the mercury rise quite steadily.

‘Glasgow could see 14C (57F) on Tuesday, while Thursday will be the warmest day at 18C (64F).’

Meanwhile, the remnants of the March snows have extended the ski-ing season at CairnGorm Mountain in Inverness-shire.

Yesterday snowboarders enjoyed perfect conditions on the slopes under a clear blue sky. A spokesman said the resort had enjoyed its best season in five years, thanks to the whiteout conditions in March.