Hector makes way for signs of a real summer
Naming of storms can throw up some odd combinations. This week Northern Ireland and Scotland have been suffering the wet and windy presence of Storm Hector, which brought two inches of rain in a single day in the Highlands.
But for those of us old enough to remember watching Hector’s House on children’s television, Hector sounds like a likeable, silly old dog, the butt of every joke played by Zsazsa the cat and Kiki the frog, rather than a terrifying weather event that uprooted trees, brought down power lines and sent waves crashing over harbour walls.
There is little chance that we will be meeting the next named storm, Iona, any time soon. After yesterday’s wetter and cooler interlude, today will see most of us back in summertime, as a benign high pressure system builds in on south-westerly breezes. Everyone should see some sun, but the best of it will be down the sheltered eastern coast, with Norwich leading the way at 72F (22C) and Hull at 68F (20C).
Early rain is likely to fall in Scotland, but by evening the first signs of an Atlantic low arriving on our shores will be felt in Northern Ireland with cloud and showers.
By tomorrow, that combination will have spread more widely, accompanied by a stiff breeze, before giving way to largely dry, sunny and settled conditions for England and Wales. And the mercury will remain pleasingly high at around 75F (24C).
Then, as the week progresses, we look likely to have a north-south split, keeping temperatures down in Scotland and Northern Ireland, with a more robust high pressure system pushing in from the south-west giving central and southern England, and most of Wales, a real taste of summer. Peter Stanford