Met Office daily weather: Change on the horizon but still feeling warm

A band of cloud and rain, locally heavy at times, will continue its eastward journey across central and eastern parts of the UK through Tuesday.

A band of cloud and rain, locally heavy at times, will continue its eastward journey across central and eastern parts of the UK through Tuesday.

As this system clears, it will break into more scattered showers, allowing sunny intervals to develop, particularly across western and southern areas. However, further showers, some of which will be heavy, are expected to affect northern, western, and central regions.

Temperatures will remain very warm across eastern areas, with highs widely reaching 24-26°C in East Anglia and southeast England, potentially warmer than Monday due to a shift in wind direction. Elsewhere, particularly in the west, temperatures will return to near average, with breezier conditions prevailing.

Showers will persist across parts of the north and west overnight. A new band of heavy rain and showers, accompanied by isolated thunder and strengthening winds, will arrive in Northern Ireland and spread into far western and southwestern parts of England and Wales by the early hours. Low cloud will linger over Shetland. It will be a cooler night than of late, with temperatures dipping in response to a changing airmass.

Outlook for Wednesday

A narrow band of heavy rain and gusty winds will move north-eastwards across much of the UK during Wednesday. This will gradually fragment into showers, some of which may be heavy and thundery, particularly across eastern areas later in the day. Ahead of this, conditions will remain dry, though Shetland will continue to see low cloud. Further showers will follow in the west, with the far northwest seeing the heaviest bursts later.

Temperatures will remain above average in northeast and eastern parts of Scotland and England, where highs of 22-24°C are expected. Elsewhere, values will be closer to seasonal norms.

Rain and showers will gradually clear from the far north and southeast, though some heavy and thundery bursts may linger in the southeast. Many areas will turn dry with clear spells, though showers will persist in the west. A notably cooler night is expected across England and Wales, with lows of 9-11°C, and locally 5-7°C away from the southeast.

Met Office presenter and meteorologist, Kathryn Chalk, said: “We have this band of rain across eastern parts of Scotland running down to the northeast of England and in towards the southeast. That will push its way eastwards, bringing a legacy of cloud. But once that clears its way through, actually plenty of sunshine on offer across East Anglia, across parts of the Midlands and the Southeast. Behind that, it is a case of sunny spells and a scattering of showers mostly across Northern Ireland and into Scotland. Some of these could be heavy, but again, most places across England and Wales is going to stay largely dry.

“Otherwise, still breezy out there, but also a little bit cooler, especially along the west. That's where we'll see temperatures around average 21 to 22°C. But in the sunshine still across the southeast, temperatures holding up. We'll see highs here of around 26°C. So, as we go through this evening, plenty of late evening sunny spells out there. Most of the showers generally start melting away. We'll still see a scattering moving northeastwards across Scotland. And then a next system coming through during the early hours across Northern Ireland.

“So, turning cloudier across western Ireland as we start Wednesday morning. Elsewhere, a mixture of clear spells and just a few showers around. Otherwise, temperatures, it is going to just feel slightly cooler to start Wednesday morning. Lows around 13 or 14°C in the towns and cities. So, as we start Wednesday morning, then actually turning a lot cloudy across Northern Ireland with this band of rain that'll edge into Wales into the southwest of England into Northern England and Scotland as we go into the afternoon. And this rain could be heavy with the odd rumble of thunder, some flashes of lightning and hail as well.

“Likewise for the showers that come in further behind that. Turning cloudier across the southeast of England. And here it won't be feeling as warm. Temperatures falling closer to average once again down to 21 or 22°C. Northern Ireland rather cool here as well coming down at around 17°C.”