Ahead of the weekend

It has been a muggy week so far with rain affecting western and northern parts of the UK but for the rest of the week, rain will spread further east. This brings a risk of heavy and thundery downpours that could result in localised surface water on the roads in the southeast, particularly on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.  

By Friday eastern areas will be much clearer, however further rain will arrive from the west to southern Scotland and northwest England. 

Settling down 

The Azores High will move in over the weekend allowing for lengthy spells of dry fine weather for many, speaking in the latest Met Office 10 day trend Aidan McGivern said “The Azores are a group of islands in the mid-Atlantic. Semi-Permanent high pressure sits here throughout much of the year. But what's been happening through this year so far and especially during the summer, is high pressure from the Azores keeps extending across the UK, hence the warm summer and the very dry summer that we've had. And that repeating pattern repeats again this weekend” 

Although high pressure means it is likely to be largely dry with warm sunny spells, Aidan said that’s not the story for everywhere “There's also an area of low pressure which will likely bring some wetter weather for a time, later Saturday into Sunday to the northwest, mainly Northern Ireland, western Scotland, and then clearing from the far north of Scotland during Monday."

Travelling this weekend? 

Though the weather is unlikely to be impactful, some travel disruption can be expected. RAC Breakdown spokesman Rod Dennis said: “As it’s the last bank holiday before Christmas for many people, we expect traffic congestion to build through the course of Friday afternoon and the same to happen in waves through the weekend. Settled weather will be good news for most, but drivers need to be aware of showers in the west with the possibility of standing water posing a hazard. We also strongly recommend drivers make sure their vehicles are in good working order before they set out, and keep a close eye on Met Office weather forecasts.” 

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