Met Office daily weather: Mostly fine but some risk of showers and thunderstorms

The weather for the weekend looks mostly fine with dry conditions and warm sunshine, but also highlights the potential for showers and even thunderstorms.

On Saturday, early mist and fog patches will clear quickly, leaving most areas basking in above-average temperatures. The highest temperatures are expected in East Wales, the Midlands, Western East Anglia, and Southern England, with isolated peaks reaching up to 24°C. Eastern Scotland may also see temperatures around 21-22°C. However, far northern and northwestern Scotland will experience cloudier conditions with a chance of showers. Coastal areas may be breezy.

Saturday night will be milder than recent nights, significantly reducing the risk of frost. Most areas will enjoy long clear periods and clear skies, although far northern and northwestern Scotland will remain cloudier with a few showers. Southwestern UK will turn cloudier with a risk of showers or thunderstorms, particularly in far southwestern England.

Outlook for Sunday

Sunday will start with clear spells and variable cloud cover, accompanied by light winds. A few showers are possible in the far southwest. As the day progresses, heavier rain and showers, with a low risk of isolated thunderstorms, will slowly migrate north-northwest, potentially affecting other southwestern parts. There is a small risk of isolated afternoon thunderstorms with hail and gusty winds across southern England or Wales. Later in the day and overnight, Northern Ireland and northwestern Scotland may see an increasing risk of heavy rain.

Despite these showers, many areas will remain fine, sunny, and very warm. However, eastern coastal regions may experience cooler temperatures with a chance of low cloud cover. The first pulses of showers overnight from Saturday into Sunday are likely to decay as they approach southwestern England, but by mid-morning Sunday, there is a greater chance of rain and heavy showers affecting the far southwest, possibly extending to Wales and Northern Ireland.

Aidan McGivern, Met Office presenter and meteorologist, said: "For most of us, it's going to stay dry and sunny into the weekend, but there are a couple of flies in the ointment: two areas of weather fronts moving in, one from the south and one from the north.

"In between, we keep our area of high pressure, and it's going to turn warmer through Saturday and more especially into Sunday and Monday. But as the heat rises, it'll also turn more humid, and an area of low pressure starts to approach from the southwest, sparking off some thunderstorms towards the southwest.

"At the same time, the weather front moving in will bring an area of cloud and patchy rain and drizzle that might just affect the far northwest of Scotland during Saturday. Meanwhile, for most of the rest of the UK, it's blue skies all around, and it is a sunny day for the vast majority.

"Fair weather cloud will build through the day, lighter winds compared with recent days, and it's warming up. Widely, the high teens to low 20s, 22-23°C possible in some of the sunnier bits.

"Into Sunday, it's a continuation on that theme with plenty of sunny skies and temperatures rising through the morning after, in some places, a cool start to the day. There's a lot of uncertainty, as is always the case with these kinds of features, about exactly where the rain, showers, and thunderstorms could strike, but most likely towards the southwest first thing and then into the afternoon as temperatures rise.

"We could see one or two heavy downpours or thunderstorms develop across parts of Wales into other parts of the West Country. Meanwhile, we'll also see an area of thickening cloud move into the northwest of Scotland again with some patchy rain or showers. In between, away from these areas, it's going to be another sunny day, and it's going to be feeling much warmer compared with recent days, with temperatures up to the mid-20s across some central parts, a bit cooler on the east coast, but not as cool as it has been."

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