UK weather

Headline:

Cloudy in the north with rain. Very warm sunshine elsewhere.

Today:

Cloudy across Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of northern England, with rain at times, heaviest in western Scotland. Elsewhere, plenty of hazy sunshine after early cloud clears. Warm or very warm for many. Locally hot in south-eastern England.

Tonight:

Fine, warm and mostly clear in the south, though cloud thickens across Wales and the southwest with some fog. Cloudy further north with rain, heaviest in western and northwestern Scotland.

Monday:

Rain persists across northern and northwestern Scotland. Cloudy at first across Northern Ireland and northern England with patchy drizzle. Elsewhere, sunny spells. Very warm and locally hot in the southeast.

Outlook for Tuesday to Thursday:

Mostly dry and settled with sunshine for many. Rain lingers in the far northwest, easing through the week. Warm or very warm widely. Hot conditions at times in the south.

High pressure will continue to prevail across England and Wales, likely extending its influence into the northern UK for a time. This will continue to bring dry and very warm weather across England and Wales, but there is an outside chance of the odd localised thunderstorms at times. High pressure may extend northwards to bring periods of drier and warmer weather to most of Scotland and Northern Ireland too. Winds will be light to moderate for most. Temperatures will be widely very warm at first, although not as hot nor humid as seen in June. There are signals for the heatwave to ease back to more normal summer temperatures in the week commencing Monday 13 July.

High pressure is more likely than low pressure for the rest of July, probably bringing settled and drier conditions. Occasionally this dry and warm weather could be interrupted by outbreaks of rain and stronger winds, which will be more probable in the north or west. As is typical for the time of year, there is a risk of heavy, thundery showers during any warm spells. These conditions are likely to persist through to the start of August, with unsettled interruptions perhaps becoming more common, but confidence at this range is low. In any case, temperatures are likely to be above average overall, with a greater than normal chance of hot conditions developing at times, especially in the south.