Greater Manchester has gone 21 days without a drop of rainfall, according to local weather blog Oldham Weather. The last measurable rain fell on July 2, with just 3.8mm recorded. The dry spell has been bad news for gardeners, golf clubs, and firefighters battling two huge wildfires on the moors above Glossop and Tintwistle.
Rain expected this weekend
Met Office chief forecaster Steve Willington said the high pressure front that caused the record-breaking heatwave is moving on. He added: "We will begin to see a modest change as a weak weather front pushes south across the UK on Saturday bringing some much-needed rain, albeit it light and mainly concentrated in the north and west. Behind the front a showery air mass will bring potentially heavy showers some of which may be thundery."
The Met Office forecasts a 30% chance of rain from 3pm on Saturday, with Sunday offering the best chance of wet weather, with light rain predicted for most of the day.
Temporary reprieve
However, the rain is expected to be a temporary reprieve. Dry, warm weather is set to return from Monday, with temperatures in the low 20s Celsius, though not as scorching as recent weeks. Jon from Oldham Weather wrote: "July has been very dry. Our average rainfall for July is 89.1mm. So far we have only had 4mm with the last measurable rainfall being on July 2 (3.8mm). There is plenty of dry weather in the next 10 days but we will see some rainfall this weekend. It certainly won't be as much as the fire-fighters and local golf clubs will be hoping for."
