Rain-starved England to see heatwave continue - as Wales gets welcome respite after driest July in 190 years
As welcome rain fell in drought-hit Wales, forecasters warned that there were still no significant showers on the horizon for the rain-starved south east of England.
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Capel Curig in north Wales recorded about half of the rainfall it had in the entire month of July when nine millimetres of rain hit the village on Tuesday, the Met Office said.
On the same day, Kinlochewe in Scotland had 32.4mm of rain, with warnings of thunderstorms and heavy showers in place for parts of the country.
The summer of extreme weather has seen two record-breaking heatwaves, in May and June, that led to more than 2,800 excess deaths.
Two more heatwaves in July, the driest July in England and Wales since records began, have fuelled drought and wildfires.
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Major supermarkets have removed disposable barbecues from sale amid warnings of a heightened risk of wildfires.
Asda became the latest to start pulling single-use grills from its shelves on Tuesday as a spell of exceptionally dry and hot weather continues to grip parts of the UK.
Firefighters have tackled blazes in areas including Dunwich, Suffolk, and the Rhondda Valley in Wales in recent days.
Very brief showers hit parts of London on Tuesday, but there has been little respite for the scorched earth in parts of southern England, where July was the driest month ever recorded – and forecasters have said there may not be significant rainfall in southern England for some time.
Met Office meteorologist Marco Petagna told the Press Association there may be the “odd little shower” overnight in the South East but said they will be “very few and far between”.
“It’s looking pretty dry,” he said.
“Later on Sunday we could just get a few showers coming down from the North West. But the rain’s weakening as it comes into the South East.”
Mr Petagna added: “Even for the second half of the month (August), it is suggested that rainfall totals are more likely to be below normal than above, with a potential for further spells of hot weather at times as well.
“So nothing significant on the horizon for the South East.”
More unsettled weather is on the way for parts of the UK including a yellow warning for thunderstorms in north-east Scotland, in place from 10am until 9pm on Wednesday.
Temperatures will be down on Wednesday and closer to averages for the time of year after a spike on Monday and Tuesday as a cold front moves through and the winds change direction, forecasters said.
Some parts of the UK recorded temperatures of 32C or higher on Tuesday, marking the 21st day in 2026 when 32C or higher was recorded in the UK.
The previous record of 19 days set in 1995 tumbled on Monday when 33.5C was recorded in Wisley, Surrey.