Britain’s dry spell appears to be coming to an end as wet weather is set to arrive all over the UK in the coming days.
The Met Office has confirmed that the weekend will see changeable conditions, likely with spells of rain, however warm weather may return towards the end of the month.
In its forecast for next week, it said: “This period looks like being largely changeable, with many parts likely to see some rain at times.
“Rain will spread southeast across most if not all parts of the UK through this weekend, with some showers following.
“Further bands of rain look likely to spread southeast next week, interspersed with sunny spells and some showers.
“Confidence becomes lower as we approach the turn of the month, but there are hints that high pressure could return for a time, which would mean dry conditions resuming, especially in the south.
“Winds will be mostly light or moderate, but occasionally fresh or strong around some coasts, mainly in the north.
“Temperatures will be near or above normal, warmest in the south, and perhaps becoming very warm again by the start of August.”
The rain arriving in the coming week will not be enough to stop July potentially being one of the hottest ever recorded, according to a weather forecaster.
Writing for NetWeather, Forecaster Ian Simpson suggested this month could be one of the hottest Julys on record.
“The recent exceptionally hot weather looks set to be over with for the second half of July,” Mr Simpson said.
“The medium range forecast models had previously shown potential for high pressure to push back eastwards across the British Isles, bringing potential for a fourth heatwave, but it now looks probable that high pressure will remain centred to the west of Britain during the coming week.
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“That said, temperatures will still mostly be above average for the time of year, particularly in the south, where there is potential for them to nudge the low 30s Celsius, particularly towards the end of next week.
“Temperatures are likely to fall close to the long-term normal around July 26-27, when the weather finally looks set to turn more unsettled with low pressure.”
The record for the hottest ever July was set in 2006 according to the Central England Temperature (CET) series with a mean of 19.8C.
The current mean temperature for July 2026 stands at 20.5C for the period July 1-16.
However, Mr Simpson continued: “It is currently looking unlikely (though not impossible) to me that the July 2006 record will be beaten, although it looks probable to me that it will stay above 19C and produce a top five hottest July.
“July 2026 has potential to end up exceptionally dry and sunny, but there are doubts over this.
“Particularly as much of the country is periodically being affected by cloud off the North Sea during the current spell, and it is set to become low-pressure dominated from around July 26/27.”
Central and south-east England have experienced more than 14 consecutive days without measurable rainfall between July 2-15, marking the longest dry spell in both regions since the 1990s.
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