UK weather forecast: Storms and heavy rain give way to a mild weekend with highs of 20C

The UK is expected to see more heavy rains over the next few days, with thunderstorms and biting winds also hitting the country before warmer weather arrives just in time for a weekend barbecue

The Brits will be hit with heavy rain, thunderstorms and biting winds over the next few days before warming up, potentially hitting a balmy 20C by the end of the week.

The UK is in the middle of three days of showers and unsettled weather forecast by the Met Office due to a “hyped up jet stream” bringing gales from the Atlantic.

After high May temperatures and a warm weekend, people had to dig out their coats and umbrellas as conditions were unusually poor for the time of year.

A “small tornado” was even spotted in the sky over the English Channel on Tuesday morning, looking east from Broadstairs just before noon, he reported KentLive.

Clare Nasir, Met Office forecaster, said: “Windy on Wednesday and Thursday before things start to calm down from the south on Friday and some sunshine is promised on Saturday.

She continued: “Rain then makes its way across Scotland, Wales and the West Country in the early hours (today) and yes, a brisk late night here and a cool one towards the south-east under clearer skies, but slightly brighter weather, around to start the day on Wednesday.

“But that’s not the case in Scotland, it’s a wet and windy start, away from Shetland you could see lighter skies before the clouds thicken and then you see the rain. The rain falls down towards Cumbria and Northumberland as well as the North West of England.

“Northern Ireland is seeing some rain, some hot showers on the heels of that rain and that wet weather descends into Wales. The West Country has some showers just ahead.”

It could get lighter in the east of the country this morning before clouds and rain arrive.

From the west then comes more rain from the Atlantic during the day.

“Lots of showers. Now these showers will be heavy with the risk of thunderstorms across Scotland particularly north and central, a strong biting wind here,” Ms Nasir added.

However, the weather is set to improve by Friday, BBC Weather’s Stav Danaos said, and the weekend should be sunnier but there will still be some wind and rain.

He said: “On Friday the temperature is expected to start rising as warmer weather moves north and so the mercury could reach 20C in southern England.

“On Friday and this coming weekend, high pressure appears to be dominating the scene, although we will start picking up northerly winds and those winds will be quite brisk in the northern and eastern parts of the country, they’ll be getting a bit of cloud and feeding in a lot feel cooler.

“The best sunshine will be further south and west where we are likely to see around 20C, much cooler further north certainly near the coast to the north and east. Similar story on Sunday.”

UK forecast for the next 5 days

Wednesday rather windy and cloudy with occasional showers.

Today:

Clouds and rain in the west are moving east, although it will become increasingly rainy in the afternoon with some eastern areas remaining dry. Brighter weather followed by scattered showers, parts of north and west Scotland will see some heavy showers. Pretty windy.

This evening:

Showers continue in northern Scotland. Clearer initially elsewhere, but more cloud and rain is pushing its way from Northern Ireland to south-west Scotland, northern England and north Wales. Airy. Mild in the south.

Thursday:

Showers are slowly falling south across England and Wales, but parts of southern England are becoming lighter and warmer. The rain will be followed by sunnier skies but heavy, perhaps thundery, showers in northern Scotland.

Outlook for Friday to Sunday:

Showers in the north ease up on Friday, then the weekend will be mostly dry with some sunshine. Some light showers may affect the east on Sunday. Temperatures close to average.