Met Office warns Britain faces extra rain and powerful winds at this time

Britain faces further rain and strong winds today as the miserable summer weather continues – with more heavy downpours expected over the coming weeks.

Conditions will turn wet and blustery throughout the day as outbreaks of rain push north-eastwards across the UK, accompanied by coastal gales in the South West.

Western areas were already enduring heavy showers this morning – and while it will remain dry in the East for much of today, rain will arrive in the late afternoon.

Forecasters warned of particularly strong winds in Wales, Irish Sea coasts and on the south coasts of Devon and Cornwall – with rain across most of the UK by tonight.

Blustery showers will follow tomorrow with possible thundery weather in the South, and slow-moving rain across northern parts of Scotland where it will again be windy.

The weather is then again likely to be unsettled over the weekend – with London expecting showers and 18C (64F) highs on Saturday during Trooping the Colour.

And the weather will not improve soon, with the Met Office warning of a wait until July for warmer conditions because of cold winds blowing in from the Arctic.

The UK has been experiencing temperatures three to five degrees below the season average over the past week, forecasters said.

This is because a mid-Atlantic jet stream – a fast-moving wind in the atmosphere – is guiding wind from the north to the south over the UK resulting in lower temperatures.

However, according to meteorologists, there is no sign of better weather until the end of June – the first of three months of meteorological summer.

Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said: ‘It looks as if temperatures will stay near or slightly below average for the majority of the rest of June.

‘Over the next couple of nights we’re actually expecting to see a little bit of frost in a few places.

‘This will mainly be across Scotland and possibly into northern England and Northern Ireland where temperatures could get down to around freezing.’

But Mr Partridge clarified that such patterns are ‘not unusual’.

He said: ‘On average we get an air frost – which is when the temperatures reach zero – every two to three Junes. So it’s not that unusual. It’s just not the norm for June to be this cool.’

Towards the weekend, low pressure will lead to even worse weather in parts of northern England.

Mr Partridge said: ‘There will be an area of low pressure sat over the northern part of the UK, which will unfortunately bring more unsettled weather to the UK.

‘From Thursday onwards and through the weekend, we’ll see showers circulating around the UK.

‘However, temperatures will improve because that low pressure will cut off the supply of cold air across the UK, and as a result, we’ll see the source of air coming from the west causing night-time temperatures to pick up a little.

‘In the daytime we’ll still be staying a degree or so below average, but the big difference is it will mean that overnight temperatures will pick up so our nights won’t be as cold.’

Looking ahead to July, Mr Partridge said that there was ‘no strong signal’ of any particular weather pattern.

He said: ‘The models are following the climatological norm, which indicates that temperatures are where they should be or slightly above average.

‘So there is a hint of things turning slightly warmer as we move into the beginning of July, and it does look as if some spells of drier weather will become a bit more likely.’

The Met Office’s UK long range weather forecast for next week warns of ‘longer spells of rain’ and possible thunderstorms.

It states: ‘At first, the weather across the UK is likely to continue to be a mixture of sunny spells and scattered showers, with some longer spells of rain also possible. ‘Some showers are expected to be heavy and could be thundery at times. Temperatures will generally be around or a little below normal for mid-June, and it may well be breezy in places too.’

Through the weekend and into the following week, forecasters said they had low confidence in ‘any particular weather pattern dominating’.

The Met Office added: ‘As such, the best forecast is for fairly typical June weather, with a mixture of weather types.

‘This means some spells of drier, sunny weather but also some showers or longer spells of rain at times. Temperatures will most likely be close to or slightly below average.’

And for the period between June 27 and July 11, the Met Office said there was ‘little sign for any one type of weather pattern to dominate during this period’.

It added: ‘Typical conditions for the UK are most probable with a mixture of weather types. All areas can expect to see some spells of drier, sunnier weather, but there will also be showers or longer spells of rain at times.

‘Currently the only signals, weak as they are, hint that rain and showers will tend to be more biased towards the north and west, with any more prolonged drier interludes favouring the south. Temperatures are most likely to be close to or slightly above climatological average.’