UK weather

Headline:

Rain in the north, sunny spells in the south, Cooler.

Today:

Rain persists across far northern Scotland, while showers develop widely across Northern Ireland, Scotland and northern England, these will become slow-moving and thundery in places. Elsewhere, dry with sunny spells. Windy in the north, especially around exposed coasts.

Tonight:

Showers or longer spells of rain continue across northern areas, gradually clearing eastwards overnight. Dry elsewhere with clear spells. Much cooler than recent nights.

Thursday:

Drier on Thursday, with sunny or bright spells developing despite a fair amount of cloud. A few isolated showers persist. Cooler than recent days, with temperatures close to average.

Outlook for Friday to Sunday:

Dry for many on Friday. A band of rain affecting the northwest on Saturday will sink southwards on Sunday, though some areas will remain dry. Average temperatures at first.

Rain or showers clearing on Sunday, with high pressure bringing more settled weather for most on Monday. High pressure will remain prevalent across the UK for a time, but low pressure in the Atlantic may bring further wet weather to northwestern parts. Further into August, high pressure may become more dominant towards the north or northwest of the UK, with lower pressure to the south or east. This means there is a greater chance of frontal systems or thundery interludes to affect southern and eastern areas in comparison to recent weeks, though rainfall amounts could be quite variable with some areas still seeing relatively little. For the most part, temperatures look to remain above average, especially in the south, and perhaps turning very warm or hot.

The broad theme of high pressure remaining in place at least close to the UK seems most probable, with occasional more unsettled or changeable interludes, either resulting from Atlantic frontal systems or thundery plumes. This means that rainfall amounts overall are more likely to be below normal than above. Temperatures will probably be above average and some spells of hot weather and heatwaves are possible, especially in the south.