The Met Office has issued an update on the UK heatwave, warning the scorching temperatures are set to plummet in the coming days as a “weak cold front” with lows of 5C possible by next weekend
Temperatures are set to plummet to a chilly 5C next week, following a record-breaking spell of blistering weather. The final days of May brought an exceptional wave of heat across the UK, with many areas experiencing full-on heatwave conditions.
The national weather service reported that 23 stations broke the previous UK May maximum temperature record of 32.8C set in 1922 and 1944, with the mercury soaring to a sweltering 35.1C at Kew Gardens in Greater London on Tuesday, 26 May.
However, it seems the Mediterranean-like warmth is due to dissipate for now. In an update on Thursday, the Met Office announced the heatwave “will gradually reduce in intensity in the coming days, with a transition to more unsettled and cooler weather by the weekend for many.”
Met Office Chief Forecaster Chris Bulmer commented: “We’re now starting to see this spell of very hot weather break down. Many areas will begin to feel fresher conditions moving in through Friday and into the weekend as a weak cold front moves southeast and becomes more established across most of the UK by Saturday.
“As the heat starts to ease, the weather will also turn more changeable, with some showers and thunderstorms possible. By the weekend, temperatures should be much closer to average for the time of year with accompanying rainfall for many through the weekend and into the start of next week,” reports the Mirror.
Forecast data compiled by WXCharts suggests peak temperatures across much of the UK next week will remain around the mid-teens Celsius. Yet by Sunday, the mercury could drop to as low as 5C in Scotland, around the border of the Highlands, Aberdeenshire, and Perth and Kinross at 7am BST on Sunday, June 7, according to charts released this morning.
These revealed peak temperatures spanning from roughly 7C to 11C across Scotland and England, and between 7C to 10C in Wales at that time. The thermometer was logged as rising to between 8C and 10C in Northern Ireland.
Nonetheless, charts now show temperatures ascending to the mid-teens by 1pm, before soaring back to approximately 21 or 22C across much of the southern portion of England by 7pm on Thursday, June 11.
Areas expected to witness the warmest conditions could encompass vast stretches of the East Midlands, East of England, the South East and Greater London, with temperatures spanning from around 11C to 20C throughout the rest of the nation.
The Met Office’s extended forecast spanning Tuesday, June 2 to Thursday, June 11, predicted that during the opening week of next month”Atlantic weather systems are expected to move in from the west, bringing showers or longer spells of rain at times.”
The Met added: “The best of the drier conditions are more likely towards the south and east, with more frequent rain across the west and northwest, although there will be drier interludes here also.
“Drier weather may start to become more dominant as we head into the second week of June. Temperatures will be near-normal overall, with the warmest spots most likely across eastern areas. It will also be breezy at times, especially across western parts, and notably so around exposed coasts.”
Counties set for heavy rain from 1pm on June 1 to 7pm on June 2
- Wiltshire
- Shropshire
- Merseyside
- Cheshire
- Greater Manchester
- Lancashire
- Cumbria
- North Yorkshire
- West Yorkshire
- East Riding of Yorkshire
- Derbyshire
- Worcestershire
- Warwickshire
- Oxfordshire
- Gloucestershire
- Herefordshire
- Somerset
- Dorset
- Devon
- Cornwall
- Bristol
- Northumberland
- East Sussex
- Hampshire
- Kent
- Essex
- Berkshire
- Surrey
- Buckinghamshire
- Cambridgeshire
- Staffordshire
- West Sussex
- Suffolk
- Norfolk
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