Days of punishing heat and sleepless nights have left many exhausted and crying out for relief. So it will come as welcome news that heavy rain is set to sweep the UK tomorrow, ending a record-breaking spell of hot weather. While temperatures remain above average for most, they continue to ease as the weather turns cooler and more unsettled over the weekend and into next week.
Rain and Thunderstorms Expected
Outbreaks of rain are expected to spread across the country, according to the Met Office. Periods of heavier downpours will move into western areas, including heavy and potential thundery showers in parts of Northern Ireland, but it will be dry in other areas. Temperatures should be near-average by Sunday, with clouds and rain set to affect the northern and western areas in particular, while brighter spells are expected in the east and southeast.
Forecasters have also predicted heavy downpours stretching across much of the UK over a 21-hour period, with 22 counties set to be hit at some point. Huge parts of Britain should expect rain on the first day of June on Monday, which marks the start of climatological summer. Parts of London, Kent, Cornwall, Greater Manchester, Yorkshire and Scotland are among the areas forecast for up to 8mm of rain, with some areas facing downpours until 10am the next day.
Record-Breaking Heat
It comes after Tuesday became the hottest May day ever recorded in both England and Wales, with temperatures soaring to 35.1C (95.2F) at Kew Gardens in south-west London and 32.9C (91.2F) at Cardiff's Bute Park. Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said: 'After a lengthy and historic hot spell of days in the UK above 30C, today is very likely to be the first day which breaks that series. We are still expecting above average temperatures for parts of the south and east, and these could be in the high 20s, and temperatures will remain above average for much of the UK. Although some locations may remain in heatwave conditions for a little longer, there is a general cooling trend across the UK as air from the Atlantic will start to dominate bringing a more changeable pattern of periods of rain and brighter interludes into the early part of next week.'
In the latest 10-day forecast, Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern said Britain would likely see a repeated pattern of rain and showers followed by brighter spells next week. Temperatures today remained above average for much of the UK into the high 20s in the south and east.
Impact of the Heatwave
The spring heat has sent thousands flocking to beaches, lakes and rivers across the country. But emergency services have been stretched by a string of fatal incidents involving children and teenagers getting into difficulty in open water. A 16-year-old boy was confirmed to be the 12th person to die in a water-related incident over the course of the recent heatwave. Police were called to a report of concern for a person at Bracklinn Falls near Callander in Stirlingshire, Scotland at around 6.45pm on Thursday and the body of the teenager was recovered from the water.
Meanwhile, the hot weather meant there was an extra billion litres of water used across London and the South East over the bank holiday weekend compared to the same weekend in 2025, Thames Water said. And thousands of residents in the Kent town of Whitstable have been left without water after soaring temperatures led to extremely high demand. Storage reservoirs which serve the area reached a 'critical level', South East Water incident manager Steve Benton said.
