After a sunny weekend and the hottest day of the year on Monday, it’s no surprise that thousands of Brits flocked to the coast to enjoy the August sunshine.
Unfortunately, the high temperatures and sunshine of the last few days are expected to fade and the UK is expected to experience rain, wind and cloud.
Previously, a temperature of 34.8 °C was measured in Cambridge and the UKHSA issued a yellow heat warning for London and the south and east of England.
In conversation with The Independent, Tom Morgan, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said Britons hoping for a hot second half of August were likely to be disappointed by the miserable turnaround in the weather.
“The short answer is no, the hot weather will not continue,” he said. “The heat will be mainly confined to the far east of England and temperatures will not be as high as today.”
“Today was the hottest day since 2022, tomorrow temperatures in East Anglia could reach 29 degrees, but not as humid. There will be rain in the west, a band moving from the Atlantic to Northern Ireland, Scotland, parts of Wales and England.”
The weather is expected to become more changeable from Tuesday onwards. Across the UK, a grey and cloudy day is expected on Wednesday, with heavy rain on Thursday.
A band of clouds and rain will spread eastwards on Tuesday morning, after which the skies in Northern Ireland will brighten 🌧️
To the east it will be mostly sunny and warm quickly 📈
Windy in the north and west, especially on the Irish Sea coast 🌬️ pic.twitter.com/iZYuP99Qkx
— Met Office (@metoffice) 12 August 2024
Mr Morgan said: “Thursday is expected to be the wettest day of the week. Northern parts of the UK will see heavy rain and it will be windy. Winds are unlikely to cause too much disruption to traffic but will be strong for this time of year, with coastal gales from the Irish Sea. Camping will be uncomfortable in north Wales and northern England.”
During this weekend’s heatwave, a two-year-old boy died in hospital after being pulled from a canal in Wolverhampton in hot weather on Sunday afternoon, according to West Midlands Police.
On Monday afternoon, the Met Office posted on social media: “It was the hottest day of 2024 so far, with 34.8°C recorded in Cambridge today.”
“So far, this is only the eleventh year since 1961 in which such high temperatures have been recorded.
“8 of these years have been since 2000 and 6 of them have been in the last decade.”
Before Monday, the hottest day of 2024 was Friday 19 July, when temperatures in central London reached 31.9°C.
However, not all of Britain was affected by the heat. Parts of Northern Ireland, Scotland and northern England were hit by thunderstorms and torrential rain on Monday morning. A yellow weather warning remained in force until 1pm and the storms moved out into the North Sea in the early afternoon.
The weather forecast for this week:
Tonight and tonight:
Any remaining showers and thunderstorms will clear, with many clearing up. It will remain warm in the southeast, but cooler elsewhere. Later, however, more cloud and rain will move into Northern Ireland and the far west of Scotland, England and Wales.
Tuesday:
Often cloudy with rain showers in the west, but later brighter in Northern Ireland. Otherwise largely dry and sunny and very warm in the southeast.
Outlook for Wednesday to Friday:
On Wednesday it will be mostly dry and sunny. On Thursday it will be windy with heavy rain showers. On Friday there will be sunny spells and a few showers. Temperatures will return to average.
