Heavy rain and thunderstorm warnings for UK this weekend

September warmth coming to an end

September quite often delivers a spell of warmth, and that’s been the case this week, with temperatures widely reaching the low to mid 20s.

The highest temperatures of 25-26C haven’t been confined to where you’d normally expect either, with 25.5C recorded in Aviemore in the Scottish Highlands on Wednesday.

However, changes are afoot this weekend, with a gradual drop of temperatures closer to average, and for many of us a change to unsettled weather.

What’s causing the change?

Throughout the past week, the jet stream has been sitting well to the north of the UK, which has led to a big blocking area of high pressure sitting over Scandinavia. As the name suggests, it has been blocking rain-bearing weather systems from sweeping in.

However, the high pressure is set to lessen its grip in the coming days, retreating further northwards. This will allow an area of low pressure to drift in from the Bay of Biscay across southern parts of England and Wales – bringing showers, thunderstorms and longer spells of rain.

Yellow warnings for this weekend

With heavy downpours expected during the coming days, the Met Office has issued two yellow warnings – in addition to the thunderstorm warning already issued for Friday.

On Saturday, a yellow warning for thunderstorms covers Wales, the Midlands, along with southern and some northwestern parts of England.

The thunderstorms will be hit and miss, but places that see them could have frequent lightning, hail, gusty winds and torrential rain, which in turn will bring a risk of localised flooding and travel disruption.

On Sunday similar areas are covered by another warning, but this time for more widespread spells of heavy rain, which could cause further localised flooding and travel disruption.

Not raining everywhere

Not everywhere will see the wet weather this weekend. Scotland, Northern Ireland and the far north of England will be mostly dry.

The mornings are likely to start cloudy and murky, possibly with a little drizzle in places, but generally, it’ll slowly brighten up through the day with spells of sunshine – the best of which will be towards the west.

What about next week?

Next week will see a return to more typical autumnal weather, as the jet stream picks up speed over the Atlantic Ocean and moves to the south of the UK.

As a result of this, unsettled weather will become more widespread as the week progresses, with a fairly deep area of low pressure arriving towards midweek.

This will bring showers or longer spells of rain and brisk winds in from the west, and is likely to be followed by cool and showery weather by Friday.

So, if you like the warmth and sunshine, I hope you made the most of it. If you’re ready for something that’s a bit more autumnal, then you don’t have long to wait.