UK weather forecast: Summer ‘not over yet’ as Britain set for sunshine and highs of nearly 30C

Britain’s summer is “not over yet”, the Met Office has declared, with the UK set to bask in sunshine and temperatures of nearly 30C this week.

After an often dreary summer in many parts of the UK, people across the country should enjoy a blast of sun and seasonable weather this week, forecasters said – even despite some showers and a slim chance of thunder and lightning.

With high pressure building across the country this coming weekend, “most people should see plenty of fine and settled weather, still feeling warm and pleasant where you do catch the sunshine”, Met Office meteorologist Honor Criswick told The Independent .

“Friday and Saturday, as it stands, look like the best days and on Sunday we might just see a little more wet weather. But there’s always a chance that could change, as is the way with British weather ,” Ms Criswick said.

The hottest day of the week, however, is expected on Wednesday, with the mercury set to rise as high as 29C in the east and southeast of England.

While Northern Ireland and western Scotland can expect some showery rain and cloud on Wednesday, with a very low risk of thunder and lightning in the northwest, this should be fairly isolated, Ms Criswick said.

Although the South and South East will also enjoy the most favourable conditions on Thursday, with highs of around 25C, elsewhere “should see plenty of dry weather” with a mix of could and sunny spells with lighter winds, “so where you do catch the sunshine it will be feeling pleasant”, the forecaster said.

Looking ahead to the weekend, Friday and Saturday look set to bring plenty of sunshine across the country, albeit perhaps with temperatures somewhat lower than Wednesday’s predicted peak.

Temperatures on Saturday should hit around 26C in the southeast and 22C further north, slightly higher than the UK average of around 20C for late August, according to Ms Criswick.

The forecaster said: “We’ve got high pressure building over the UK, which means it should be mostly fine and settled, but it looks like maybe from Sunday onwards we might just start to see a slight breakdown of that, as it looks like a frontal system might be moving it’s way in from the west.

“But as it’s still a few days away, it’s more moderate confidence with regards to how quickly that rain might move in – so it might be a little bit earlier, it might be a little bit later.”

She added: “Just keep an eye on the forecast as always, just in case it does change .”