Met Office daily weather: Warm humid weather to continue with further risk of thunderstorms

The UK is set to experience a continuation of warm and humid weather through Wednesday and Thursday, with a growing risk of showers and thunderstorms

The UK is set to experience a continuation of warm and humid weather through Wednesday and Thursday, with a growing risk of showers and thunderstorms, particularly in western and northern areas.

Wednesday will begin with early fog and low cloud across southern parts of the country, gradually clearing to reveal variable cloud and sunny spells. In the far northwest, thicker cloud and some rain will move northwards, while showers are expected to develop in the far southwest by mid to late afternoon. Winds will be light initially, but will strengthen from the southeast later in the day.

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Temperatures will be widely warm to very warm, with highs of 21–24°C inland and in sheltered areas. Parts of northern England and areas further south could see 25–26°C, with an isolated 27°C possible. Southern coastal areas may remain cooler, particularly where low cloud lingers.

Wednesday night into Thursday morning will bring a shift to more unsettled conditions. Showers will spread across western and central areas, followed by a more organised band of thundery rain, some of which may be heavy. This system will move erratically northwards, reaching Northern Ireland by dawn. The east will remain fine, dry, and breezy overnight, with temperatures staying on the warm side.

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Thursday will see rain, locally heavy, continuing to move north and east through the day. While the thundery element is expected to diminish, brighter conditions will follow, which may help to trigger scattered showers and possible thunderstorms, particularly across Northern Ireland. It will be breezy across all areas, with gusty winds near thunderstorms and stronger winds across the northeast.

Temperatures will remain warm and humid for all, with the south becoming very warm once again. Highs of 26–28°C are expected across Yorkshire, the East Midlands, East Anglia, and the southeast of England.

Met Office presenter and meteorologist, Alex Deakin, said: "Wednesday we'll start to see those temperatures ticking up more widely, certainly over England and Wales, and under the influence of high pressure, the air generally sinking, so a lot of fine weather. There will be some mist and fog around though, as we see the air getting juicier, the humidity increasing, foggy conditions possible around the coast of southern England at times and may in fact linger for a good part of the day.

"There will be a bit more cloud as always across western Scotland, Northern Ireland, small chance of the odd spot of rain, but for most places Wednesday looks dry, plenty of sunshine. The winds will be a key factor in determining the temperature. We've got an onshore breeze that'll keep the temperatures down a little bit. Inland over parts of England, east Wales, temperatures really starting to jump up, that warm air moving in, and 25, 26, maybe 27°C in and around northwest England likely to be the top temperature.

"Not quite that warm, as I say, where we've got the breeze off the sea, where it is a little bit cloudier further west. Some cloud down to the southwest, some fairly angry-looking showers, and that is the first of our sets of thundery showers heading northwards, likely during Wednesday night, as the even warmer air just drifting there across northern France. And this weather front is a band of thundery showers that's likely to spread north.

"Now, as always, with so much energy in the atmosphere, there's always going to be a bit of uncertainty, a bit of volatility about the exact track of this band of thundery showers, but it is likely to push northwards during Wednesday night and into Thursday. Behind it, probably leaving quite a legacy of cloud, but a good part of the day may well be dry and fine across a good part of England and Wales."