Exact date sunny weather to return to UK as mini heatwave hits and temperatures top 30C again

16 July 2024, 18:36

Temperatures are set to go above 30C again in parts of the UK later this week, after a cold and wet start to the month.

Londoners and people in the south-east will enjoy a mini-heatwave over the weekend, with temperatures of 31C expected on Friday, according to the Met Office.

The mercury will reach 27C on Saturday, before dipping slightly again to 24C on Sunday, forecasters predict.

The weather will start to get hotter from earlier in the week, with temperatures of 25C expected on Wednesday in the capital, and 27C on Thursday, according to the Met Office.

It comes after a wet start to July, with 97% of England's average rain for the month already falling by this week.

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Some places have had it particularly bad.

London has had 154% of its July average already, with Dorset up to 120%.

The Met Office issued a wet weather warning at the start of this week, forecasting "torrential downpours" with "15 to 20mm falling in less than an hour and as much as 30 to 40 mm in three hours."

Forecasters predicted this would lead to "localised flooding, slower travel times and a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded."

The warning covered Cheshire, Halton, Merseyside, and Warrington in north-west England, all of Wales, and Devon, Somerset, Bristol, and Cornwall in the south-west.

On Tuesday, the weather turned "heavy and thundery", especially in the east.

It comes after last week's deluge of thunderstorms, which saw people sheltering under their umbrellas in Cambridge and London, briefly came to a halt with a glimpse of the glorious summer sunshine.