Met Office maps show 60 UK areas drenched by heavy rain on Tuesday - full list
Met Office maps show 60 UK areas drenched by heavy rain on Tuesday

Dozens of major UK towns and cities are set to be drenched on Tuesday as a wall of rain soaks the country. After weeks of sunshine, and 38C recorded last Thursday (August 13), this week gets off to a wet start. A band of heavy rain will move over Britain on Monday evening (August 17) into Tuesday (August 18). It will be followed by more showers as Tuesday progresses. In total, 60 major towns and cities will get wet.

Met Office forecast

The Met Office forecast for Monday is: “Remaining cloudy in the north with outbreaks of rain, turning heavier and more persistent later. Further south, hazy sunshine will develop, making it feel very warm and humid.” Meteorologists said of Tuesday to Thursday: “Rain gradually clearing to the south throughout Tuesday introducing fresher conditions. Largely dry in the south Wednesday, otherwise a mix of sunshine and showers. Showers becoming more widespread Thursday.”

In a Sunday update, Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan added: “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. So as well as some rain, showers, and even thunderstorms in places, it will certainly feel considerably fresher than recent weeks in the south.”

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Rain timeline

Weather maps show a band of heavy rain arrives on Monday, and soaks Scotland, north Wales, and northern England in the early hours of Tuesday. By 7am, that wall of rain has moved eastwards to Europe, but it is followed by outbreaks of rain across the western side of the country. South west England, Wales, and western Scotland should all expect rain.

As the morning progresses, showers start to fizzle out, with only a few isolated downpours at lunchtime. However, by mid-afternoon, more rain returns in Scotland. Later on, in the evening, more rain arrives for England and Wales as another band of rain hits the Midlands and south east, which then moves out to East Anglia.

Full list of 60 areas

This is a list of the 60 major towns and cities expected to see rain on Tuesday, August 18.

Scotland

  • Aberdeen
  • Dundee
  • Edinburgh
  • Glasgow

Northern Ireland

  • Belfast
  • Derry / Londonderry

Wales

  • Cardiff
  • Newport
  • Swansea

England

North West

  • Blackburn
  • Blackpool
  • Bolton
  • Liverpool
  • Manchester
  • Oldham
  • Preston
  • Stockport

North East

  • Gateshead
  • Middlesbrough
  • Newcastle upon Tyne
  • Sunderland

Yorkshire and the Humber

  • Bradford
  • Huddersfield
  • Hull
  • Leeds
  • Rotherham
  • Sheffield
  • Wakefield
  • York

West Midlands

  • Birmingham
  • Coventry
  • Solihull
  • Stoke-on-Trent
  • Walsall
  • Wolverhampton

East Midlands

  • Derby
  • Leicester
  • Northampton
  • Nottingham

East of England

  • Cambridge
  • Colchester
  • Ipswich
  • Luton
  • Norwich
  • Peterborough
  • Southend-on-Sea

South West

  • Bournemouth
  • Bristol
  • Exeter
  • Gloucester
  • Plymouth
  • Poole
  • Swindon

South East

  • Brighton & Hove
  • Milton Keynes
  • Oxford
  • Portsmouth
  • Reading
  • Southampton

London

The rain comes as the UK continues to face drought conditions following its hottest ever summer, with the downpours expected to provide some relief.

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