Another sizzling day for UK with 30C temperatures forward of heat weekend

Britain will experience another hot day today with temperatures soaring to 30C (86F) once again after almost a month’s worth of rain fell in an hour last night.

This weekend is also set to be sunny and warm for many parts of the UK, with slightly lower highs of around 25C (77F) which look set to continue into next week too.

It comes after thunderstorms hit England last night and New Addington in South London saw yesterday’s heaviest downpour with 53mm (2.1in) of rain in an hour.

The average total rainfall for the month of August in the same area is 56mm (2.2in).

The Environment Agency had imposed 26 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, across England this morning – including 11 in the outskirts of Greater London.

Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said: ‘There’s been very humid air which is why it’s felt so close and muggy as well.

‘The same air has been over northern France for the last day or two as well – so those heavy thundery showers that they had during the triathlon.

‘So basically, we’ve been getting the same sort of weather as the Olympics have.’

He said today will be ‘mostly dry’, adding: ‘It will be another very warm, very muggy feeling day and that’s what helps keep a few of those showers going – but it’s not until Saturday where things will feel much fresher across the board.’

Yesterday, drivers faced road closures amid travel disruption and a group of people were seen pushing a car that had become stuck in flood water in Guildford, Surrey.

Benson Lock in Oxfordshire recorded 30mm (1.2in) of rainfall in an hour while Wisley, Surrey, enjoyed the highest temperature of the day of 30.2C (86.4F).

Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: ‘Whatever your plans are this weekend, many of us will have some dry bright weather at times but also a bit of rain moving through too.’

He said that today there would still be some heavy showers across the far East of England at first, but these will largely clear before more showers develop across eastern England into the afternoon, along with some thunder.

Mr Burkill continued: ‘There’s going to be a system pushing its way in from the North West, so that will bring increasing amounts of cloud and outbreaks of rain which could be quite heavy across parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland and into the far North and West of England and Wales as well.

‘But in between these two bits of weather that I’ve just mentioned there’s some decent dry bright weather – perhaps the best of the sunshine will be across central parts of England and towards the East away from any of those showers.

‘Meanwhile across parts of the South West it is going to turn a bit cloudier and perhaps a few spots of rain arriving later on.’

He said it would still be ‘hot and humid’ across eastern parts of England with temperatures getting into the ‘high 20s, possibly low 30s – and even elsewhere we’re looking at low 20s to mid 20s across many parts of the UK’.

A band of rain towards the North West will continue to edge south-eastwards through today, with clearer skies following behind across western parts of Scotland and across Northern Ireland into the night.

That front will then continue to edge south-eastwards tonight and into tomorrow, but Mr Burkill said there was still some uncertainty regarding the exact timing of this.

He continued: ‘At the moment it looks like it is going to be a wet start to the day or at least a damp start today to the day across some relatively large parts of England and Wales with quite a bit of cloud here too.

‘Where we have the cloud overnight temperatures not dropping a huge amount, but towards the North West of the UK with something a bit fresher following in behind this front it could be a little bit of a chilly night particularly across some parts of Scotland – the sheltered glens could get to low single figures.’

Tomorrow itself then could see a bit of a cloudy and damp start across parts of England and Wales, with cloud and rain gradually shifting away towards the South East.

But there could still be some heavy bursts of rain through the afternoon, particularly across southern and south-eastern parts of England.

In Scotland and Northern Ireland there will be a bit more cloud and some showery outbreaks.

However, he continued: ‘But again in between these two zones across parts of northern England and the north-western half of Wales it’s actually looking largely dry and bright with some decent sunshine to be had.

‘Now as that front pushes its way through we will have that fresher air coming in so in the East where it’s still hot and humid on Friday it is going to be a fair bit fresher.

‘Still relatively warm, temperatures in the mid 20s perhaps, but not as hot as it has been lately and elsewhere we’re looking at highs ranging from the mid to high teens or perhaps down to low to mid 20s across many parts of England and Wales.’

Later on Saturday, there could be some heavy rain across parts of the South East but gradually this should clear towards the east into tomorrow night

Further south though it should be drier and more settled because a ridge of high pressure will be building which ‘should settle things down a little bit’.

However, Mr Burkill said there was ‘another system waiting out towards the West which we’re already turning our attention to’.

He continued: ‘Because of the ridge towards the South it’s going to be a bit of a fresher night through Saturday night into Sunday across much of England and Wales.

‘But because of that system towards the North West bringing a bit more cloud and perhaps some strengthening winds for Scotland and Northern Ireland, it’s looking a little bit of a milder night compared to Friday night here.’

Sunday should see a ‘fairly decent start for many places’, although some thicker cloud and rain towards the North West.

Mr Burkill said: ‘It’s going to be largely dry for most places – the cloud may be thick enough for a few spots of rain here and there.

‘But across parts of western Scotland in particular and western Northern Ireland we will have some rain arriving as we go through the afternoon and perhaps some strong winds – could even be gales for the Hebrides at times.’

Temperatures will be relatively similar to Saturday, ‘ranging from the high teens to mid 20s towards the South’.

He said: ‘That rain towards the North West will then spill further across parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland as we go through the end of Sunday.

‘All the time staying dry towards the South East for the time being but that rain is gradually going to progress its way across the country and there will be some heavy rain mixed in with this as well.’

Mr Burkill said that Monday would bring some heavy rain across Scotland and Northern Ireland, but also pushing into parts of northern and western England and Wales too

He added: ‘It is likely to be a fairly wet start to the week at least across northern and western parts. Towards the South East, staying that little bit drier before some rain maybe arrives a little bit later on.’

Rainfall totals towards the North West could get to around 60mm (2.4in) to 70mm (2.8in) in just 48 hours, which ‘could cause some localised issues’.

During the rest of next week, north-western parts are set to have the wettest weather and it could also be ‘quite windy at times’.

But Mr Burkill said: ‘I think towards the South, South East it’s going to be drier but some fronts will progress their way across the whole of the UK so we could have some rain in the South and it could be a bit heavy at times.

‘But we may see high pressure again building across southern parts that could bring something a bit drier perhaps even bright or sunny at times.

‘And in the sunshine towards the South I think it will be quite warm at times. Elsewhere temperatures generally around average for the time of year.’

Britain has basked in scorching temperatures and clear sunny skies for much of this week, with the UK reaching ‘heatwave criteria’ after three consecutive days of temperatures over 28C (82F) in London.

Monday got to 29.6C (85.3F) at Charlwood in Surrey.

Tuesday was then the UK’s warmest day of 2024 so far, with a high of 32.0C (89.6F) recorded at Kew Gardens and Heathrow Airport.

And Wednesday reached 31.1C (88.0F) at Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.