03/07/2017 Weather for the Week Ahead

Hello there. For those of you that live in eastern Scotland, I'm sure

you're very pleased to see the back of June.

June was not just a wet month - it was a record-breaking month.

In Edinburgh, we had 181 millimetres of rain

fall through the course of June.

That was the wettest June on record here. Well, that was last month -

what about the next week or so?

We can all expect to see some sunny spells over the coming days,

but there will be a spell of rain across central areas

coming through on Tuesday.

Then for some of us, it will turn hot and humid later on in the week.

The pressure chart, then, shows a weak front pushing southwards

and eastward on Monday, but it's this area of low pressure that will

bring more substantial rain to central areas of the UK for Tuesday.

Here's how Monday starts off, then. An area of cloud.

Some patchy outbreaks of rain pushing southwards

and eastwards, but by the time we get to the afternoon,

there'll just be a strip of cloud with one or two showers.

Some of those could be quite sharp but, at the same time,

the cloud will break up a bit to allow some sunny spells through.

Now, to the north of the front, across the Midlands,

into Wales, northern counties of England, there will be plenty

of sunshine, a brisk north-westerly breeze, but pleasant conditions.

Temperatures into the high teens to low 20s.

And although there will be some sunshine for a time

in Northern Ireland, it will cloud over late in the day.

A much better day weather-wise in Scotland.

A few showers, yes, in the north-west,

but many areas stay dry with a lot more sunshine to go around.

Now, as we head through Monday evening,

we'll start to see that weather system I showed you

arrive across Northern Ireland, bringing some wet weather here.

And then that rain band will drive its way straight

eastwards across southern Scotland,

particularly northern England with that rain lasting a long

time into Tuesday and, at times, we could see the rain skirting

into the far north of Wales and the far North Midlands, as well.

Either side of the rain band, some decent weather.

Quite warm towards south-east England with highs of 24 in London,

but quite cool and fresh across northern Scotland.

Now, towards the middle of the week, what happens with the jet stream -

the fast winds six miles up in the earth's atmosphere -

is the jet stream splits in two.

We get one portion rotating around this cut-off low that will

drag up some warm and humid air from the near continent,

but the northern branch of the jet stream will continue to bring

cooler conditions to the far north of Scotland.

So, from midweek onwards, we're going to start to get some

really big temperature contrasts building across the country.

And although Wednesday will be a largely dry day,

there could be one or two sharp showers developing through the day.

Warmer weather getting into southern counties of England -

highs of 26 in London -

but still relatively cool for the north of Scotland.

Now, that cut-off area of low pressure that

I was talking about will form these thundery showers, then,

through Wednesday night and into Thursday.

Those thunderstorms will drive their way northwards,

so we'll probably see some thundery rain breaking out

across parts of England and Wales on Thursday.

Apart from that, it's going to be a hot and humid day -

temperatures in the hottest areas getting into the mid-to-high 20s.

Wouldn't be surprised if we even hit the 30-degree mark -

it could be that hot, given some decent sunshine.

But then through Thursday evening, Thursday night and Friday,

those thunderstorms will continue to track northwards,

so we may well see them curling back round to affect eastern

parts of Scotland into Friday.

Generally, though, Friday will be a fresher kind of day

as Atlantic air continues to move in,

although it could still be pretty warm across East Anglia

and south-east England, as well.

Now, beyond that, through the weekend and into next week,

it looks like we could see low pressure quite close to

the north of the UK bringing breezy conditions and some showers.

Temperatures near normal,

but the Azores high could move into southern parts of the country

and that could bring more settled conditions, lighter winds,

more sunshine and potentially things getting a bit warmer.

So temperatures, if you like, returning a bit closer to normal,

but could become quite warm in the south.