UK Weather: Temperatures continue to stay high over summer

Friday, July 19 was the hottest day of the year in the UK so far, with St James Park in central London reaching 31.9C.

However, the weekend was slightly cooler with clouds returning bringing drier weather on Sunday, July 21 and temperatures staying lower at around 20C, the July average.

Met Office forecasts more hot weather for the UK

Craig Snell, a meteorologist at the Met Office, told the PA news agency that the east will likely see a “grey start” to Sunday, while the south will see temperatures reach their high teens.

Adding that as the day goes on, most of the country “will see dry and bright spells”.

Into next week, rain is expected to move in from the west on Monday. The north of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland will see wet spells, while the south will remain largely untouched by rain.

The weather is likely to settle down on Tuesday and Wednesday, with temperatures starting to climb in some areas. In the south, temperatures could reach as high as 26C or 27C in a few spots.

Cloud and outbreaks of drizzle will clear the southeast on Sunday morning leaving a warm afternoon 🌥️

Mostly dry with sunny spells elsewhere, before rain arrives into Northern Ireland later 🌧️ pic.twitter.com/V3cMBzmsDT

— Met Office (@metoffice) July 20, 2024

Thursday is then expected to be wet before things settle down again going into next weekend.

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Mr Snell said: “It won’t be wall-to-wall sunshine and we’ll see rain in the north on Monday and the rest of the country on Thursday.

“It also won’t be as hot as recent days but warmer than the start to July. It will be an improvement.

“Overall, the south east and south are likely to see the warmest temperatures next week.”