The Met Office has issued a weather forecast indicating that a 500-mile band of heavy and persistent rain will drench large parts of the UK on Thursday. While some regions may experience heatwave temperatures of up to 30°C, others will face damp conditions.
Affected Areas
Forecast maps reveal the rain band will cover significant portions of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Northern England, and North Wales for most of Thursday. The south of England could see thunderstorms on Thursday evening after a day of hot and humid weather.
Speaking on the Met Office YouTube channel, Alex Burkill said: "It's worth highlighting that there's the potential for some thunderstorms to kick off across parts of the southeast later on Thursday through the evening in particular because of that hot, humid air coming in from the south, but that's only a low risk at the moment."
He added: "Now, there is a fair amount of rain to come through this week, and most of it is coming in from the west southwest, but actually day by day, where we see the heaviest rain that actually changes. So, there will be some heavy, persistent rain feeding eastwards across southern parts of England through Wednesday. And then that front on Thursday pushes northwards bringing rain across Northern Ireland, parts of Western Northern Wales, Northern England, and Scotland."
Despite the heavy rain, overall rainfall totals are expected to remain low. Burkill noted: "It is going to be a bit soggy at times, but rainfall totals through the whole week don't look especially high. Some places could get in excess of 50 millimeters perhaps, but that's not a huge amount of rain. In fact, some people will be quite glad to get some rain at this time of year."
Timeline of Rain
Weather maps show the rain band covering Ireland, Northern Ireland, and parts of West Scotland from 6am on Thursday. By 10am, almost all of Scotland and Northern Ireland will be under the band, which will spread across North West England, with particularly heavy patches over Cumbria.
This pattern continues for most of the day, with the rain band traveling eastwards and covering the North East by 1pm. At that point, the band will stretch over 500 miles from North Wales to Northern Scotland. By 4pm, Northern Ireland should be clear, with the heaviest showers forecast over Cumbria, the Pennines, and parts of the North East.
Full List of Areas
The following areas are expected to experience persistent heavy rain showers on Thursday:
- Northern Ireland
- North Wales
- Northern West England
- North East England
- Scotland
- Northern Scotland
- Eastern Scotland
- Western Scotland
Potential for Thunderstorms
There is a low risk of thunderstorms in South East England on Thursday evening.
