An autumnal feel to this weekend’s weather

Most of us have rejoiced that we’ve finally had a proper summer this year. July saw 19 consecutive days where the temperature somewhere in the UK reached 28C or above – the first time this has happened since 1997.

August so far has been a little more mixed, which as I explained in a recent blog, is down to the jet stream wiggling around close to or over the UK.

When it wiggles north, ridges of high pressure build, bringing sunshine and warmth. But when it wiggles south, low pressure rolls in, bringing cooler air and rain.

This weekend, it is going to do the latter. Not only is the jet stream going to wiggle south, it’s also going to speed up – touching 140mph 30,000ft above our heads.

As result of this, air will be sucked up from the surface, causing an area of low pressure to form that will give weather more akin to early autumn than late summer.

Whilst it’s not unusual to have occasional spells of turbulent weather in the summer months, this will stand out more given the sunshine and heat we’ve been used to.

Saturday

This is looking like the most unsettled day of the weekend for many of us, with an area of low pressure barrelling across northern Scotland.

Around it will be a swathe of fresh to strong winds, with gales likely around the coasts and hills in the west.

As well as the wind, a set of weather fronts will deliver a spell of rain, with the heaviest downpours for Scotland, Northern Ireland and north west England.

Further south eastwards, the rain won’t tend to amount to much, but there’ll be a blanket of cloud with sunshine generally in short supply.

Temperatures will reach 16-21C, but it’ll feel cooler when you factor in cloud, wind and rain.

Sunday

This will be the better day of the weekend, relatively speaking. It’ll still be quite windy, but there’ll be less cloud and more sunshine for most of us.

Whilst there will be some showers around – especially in the west, there’ll be a good deal of dry weather in between.

Despite similar temperatures to Saturday, as the winds ease a little later in the day, it should feel a bit warmer.

At the moment, there are signs of high pressure building across the southern half of the UK next week with some sunshine and warmth. However, further north, there’ll still be spells of cloud and rain from time to time.

Don’t forget, you can get the latest forecast on the Channel 4 Weather website or follow my updates on Twitter – @liamdutton