More of the same – but don’t write off August just yet
Summer seems to have slipped its anchor in August after delivering us 30C (86F) temperatures in July. For today and the week ahead it is going to low pressure moored over the UK, but there is a chance that the warm seasonal weather we all need to make our staycation go swimmingly will return for the second half of the month.
This morning will begin much like yesterday, breezy, showery, with the odd burst of sunshine but temperatures well off what they should be at this time of year. There will be, however, a very modest improvement as the low pressure fills – or weakens. So the wind will be a little less disruptive, the gaps between the rain longer, and the sun more in evidence especially in the south and south west of England.
But the advances are all slight. So the best of the temperatures will be 20C (68F) down the east coast at Hull and Norwich. The south east, southern England, South Wales and up into the Midlands will see 19C (66F). Further north it is down at 18C (64F).
Monday sees the recovery continuing, but painfully slowly, though south-eastern England – closest to the high pressure that is dominating continental Europe at the moment, peaking in 47.1C (116.8F) temperatures in Greece – may manage to go all day without rain. And on Tuesday high pressure will briefly show its face, building in from the south west, settling things down and reminding us that it is summer as the mercury rises.
But it is short-lived. Wednesday into Thursday a new low-pressure system is heading in from the west, laden with rain that will fall mainly in the north of England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Again the south east of England will do best, but the bar is low.
These un-summery conditions seem set to last over next weekend but there is hope on the horizon. Current forecasts, inevitably hedged with all sorts of caveats, point to a return to full-blown summer (or as full-blown as it gets in these isles at the moment) by the middle of the month.