Bright and breezy start to week but persistent rain looms

The strong winds that hit the UK over the weekend may have died down, but the country will have to wait a little longer for the arrival of the summer weather typically expected in July.

There is a bright, breezy and dry start for most on Monday, with some showers expected in the far north and east.

Temperatures will reach a high of 22C in the southeast, including London, Kent and possibly parts of East Anglia. Although this is cooler than Sunday’s high of 24C, it is likely to feel warmer thanks to lighter winds and fewer showers.

A cool, dry night is expected for most parts of the country, with a fine start to Tuesday.

However, this will be followed by heavy persistent rainfall that will last through to Thursday.

There is some uncertainty around the positioning of the wet weather, but it is likely to push across central and northern parts of England and Wales.

Alex Burkill, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “We may have some issues with high rainfall amounts in association with that [wet weather], partly because it’ll be heavy and persistent, but also because it’s going to last for quite a while.”

Meanwhile, tropical storm Edouard is in the Atlantic and although it is not coming towards the UK, it is travelling across the ocean and will feed into the wet weather the UK is going to see during the middle of the week.

Mr Burkill said: “We’re not going to have a tropical storm, it’s not going to be especially windy, it’s just going to feed into the system that’s bringing our rain. This is why it’s going to be quite wet for a few days because it’ll have that extra energy.”

Elsewhere, some drier breaks can be expected amid the rain in some parts of the country, including across much of Scotland, Northern Ireland, the far north and far southern counties. Warm, humid air is also expected to the south of the rain.

“It’s quite a fine line between whether it will be warm and pleasant or cloudy and a bit damp and wet [in the south]. At the moment, it looks more like the rain will win out,” Mr Burkill added.

There is hope for next weekend’s outlook, with building high pressure potentially bringing calmer, more settled and warmer weather.

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