Met Office weekly weather: Change in temperatures on the way

The week ahead will see a marked shift towards warmer and more settled weather for much of the UK, with high pressure becoming increasingly dominant.

While the northwest will experience some unsettled spells, many areas, particularly in the south and east, can expect fine, dry, and increasingly hot weather as the week progresses.

Tuesday begins with a band of cloud and patchy rain or drizzle moving southeast across Scotland and Northern Ireland into northern England and north Wales. Behind this, brighter conditions will follow, with sunny spells and a few showers, particularly in northern and western Scotland. Elsewhere, England and Wales will enjoy plenty of warm sunshine, with central, southern, and eastern areas turning very warm.

Overnight into Wednesday, the cloud and drizzle will linger across northern England and Wales, while clearer skies dominate further south. A few fog patches may form in southern areas, and showers will persist in the north and west of Scotland, where it will remain breezy.

By Wednesday, any early low cloud or fog in the south and west will soon clear, leaving much of England and Wales dry, sunny, and warm or very warm. Northern Ireland and Scotland will see increasing cloud, with some light rain in the west.

Thursday will bring more cloud and patchy rain to western Scotland and Northern Ireland, though this will gradually break up. Elsewhere, it will remain dry with sunny spells. Winds will be light to moderate, fresh along some western coasts. Temperatures will be warm or very warm in the south, locally hot in central England, and near normal further north.

READ MORE: Met Office weather extremes: What are June’s current records?

Friday continues the trend of mostly dry weather, though cloud will increase in the west and southwest, bringing a risk of locally heavy showers. Temperatures will remain very warm or hot, though coastal areas may feel fresher.

The weekend looks set to be the warmest period of the week. Saturday will be generally dry with sunny spells, though showers, potentially heavy and thundery, may develop in western areas. Sunday will be largely fine and dry in the east, while the west and far north may see cloudier skies and some rain or showers. Winds will strengthen in the northwest.

With high pressure shifting eastwards and drawing in warmer air from the continent, temperatures are expected to rise further into the weekend. Many areas are likely to reach heatwave thresholds, particularly in the south and east. It is advisable to stay up to date with the latest forecasts and take precautions in the heat.

Met Office presenter and meteorologist, Alex Burkill, said: “Yes, things are hotting up this week. We're going to see our temperatures rising and, in fact, many places are likely to get to their heatwave levels as we go towards the end of the week and into this weekend.

“Starting off though, looking at the bigger picture currently, and we have the jet stream running over northern parts of the UK. This is then driving a feature that's going to bring some fairly blustery and wet weather to parts of the northwest as we go through the end of Monday and into Tuesday.

READ MORE: What is the jet stream and how does it affect our weather?

“Most places though under the influence of high pressure, and as this high pressure amplifies through this week, we're going to see it becoming more dominant, lots of fine weather on offer for many places. And with that then, day on day, we're going to see our temperatures rising because of the sun bringing some decent warmth. But then towards the end of the weekend, this coming weekend, the high does drift away towards the east, and that means we're going to change where our air is coming from just that little bit.

“And so, by the weekend, we're going to be starting to drag in some of the heat that's, uh, across parts of France and Spain through this week, where it is going to be exceptionally warm. And so we are going to see our temperatures rising even further, and so it is looking pretty hot for this weekend.”

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