Britain is facing a huge north-to-south spread of rain on Thursday, with as many as 45 counties set to be battered. Weather data from WXCharts.com shows rain up and down the UK, stretching from the Highlands of Scotland to the English south coast.
Heavy bursts expected
The most eye-catching conditions develop across northern England, north Wales and the Midlands, where weather maps show pockets of yellow, orange and red embedded inside a much wider area of rain. That signals some potentially fierce bursts, with the wet weather stretching across hundreds of miles and showers also breaking out across Scotland.
By late afternoon, the rain becomes increasingly widespread and patchy, with heavy showers peppering large parts of England and Wales, while northern Scotland is also soaked. Some places could escape with little more than a brief shower, but others, sitting underneath the most intense cells, could be drenched in a short time.
Forecast details
The forecast paints a particularly unsettled picture across the Midlands and northern England, where some of the heaviest-looking rainfall is concentrated. A Met Office forecast for Wednesday to Friday said: “Wednesday will be dry in the south, while elsewhere there will be a mix of sunshine and showers. Showers becoming widespread and heavy from Thursday, with a risk of thunder.”
The band of rain is likely to herald in a period of mixed weather following weeks of intense heat that have left large parts of the country facing drought. A Met Office meteorologist said that the south of the UK will experience “changeable” conditions with temperatures turning “cooler”.
Heat alert extended
Despite the forecast, a yellow heat health alert has been extended until 9am on Tuesday for the South East, South West, and London. A Met Office long-range forecast for Friday, August 21 to Sunday, August 30 said: “A rather changeable period is likely, with many parts of the UK seeing showers or perhaps some longer spells of rain. However, there will be some drier interludes as high pressure moves across the UK at times. There is also a chance that deeper Atlantic lows could lead to periods of widespread rain and strong winds at times, while some outbreaks of thunderstorms are also possible.”
The UK recently experienced its fifth heatwave of the summer with the hottest day of the year recorded in Kew Gardens, London, on Thursday when temperatures reached 38.1C. In a Sunday update, Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said: “I can’t promise rain for all of us through the week ahead, but in the south at least, it’s looking like the most changeable week we’ve seen here – well at least since the end of June.”
A jet stream which has been far in the north of the UK has allowed high pressure to dominate, causing the recent excessively hot conditions, Mr Morgan said. He said it would travel south, meaning that low pressure will dominate, adding: “So a much more changeable and at times unsettled outlook through the middle part of the week – low pressure will dominate and slowly drift its way southwards.” He said it would start to turn “cooler” as wind switches to a northerly direction, adding: “So as well as some rain, showers, and even thunderstorms in places, it will certainly feel considerably fresher than recent weeks in the south.”
Full list of counties hit
Scotland: Highland, Western Isles, Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, Argyll and Bute, Stirling, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders.
Wales: Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Wrexham, Powys, Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Monmouthshire.
England: Cumbria, Northumberland, County Durham, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Devon, Cornwall, Dorset.
