School holidays get off to a red hot start for once
FOR once, the start of the school summer holidays and the weather are in harmony. Just as our children and grandchildren begin the long vacation, high pressure is dominating the UK, bringing with it hours of sunshine to enjoy on the beach, in the paddling pool or outdoors far away from screens.
If yesterday was hot, today will be hotter still, with temperatures touching 30C (86F) in the south-east corner of England. Elsewhere, the picture is pretty uniformly good – blue skies, the occasional wispy cloud that won’t cause any bother and a gentle breeze. South Wales will see 28C (82F), East Anglia and much of eastern England 24C (75F) and Belfast 21C (70F). Only in the northern half of Scotland will weak weather fronts creep in to spoil the picture, but even then Aberdeen and Stornoway should manage 17C (63F).
And this is no flash in the pan. From tomorrow through to Wednesday, you can expect more of the same sunshine – possibly a tiny bit cooler, but still above average temperatures for this time of year. The odd rogue shower may cause a rush for cover, but if you are on a staycation, you should have no complaints.
After Wednesday, the forecast gets a bit more mixed. It all depends on how long that high pressure stays around and, at the moment, forecasters are divided. As always it depends on the behaviour of the jet stream, that ribbon of air currents in the high atmosphere that blows west to east across the Atlantic.
In the sunny start to the week, the jet stream will be kinked above and beside the UK, putting us on its southern and hence warmer side, but that may shift. And it has been the vagaries of the jet stream that locked in the torrential downpours over Germany and Belgium causing catastrophic flooding and loss of life.