WEEKEND WEATHER OFF WITH A BANG?
Hot and humid air, thunderstorms, intense sudden and heavy rain to name just a few are likely to be in store for much of the country this weekend.
Friday looks to be a scorcher with maximum temperatures in the south-east corner forecast to reach 30C-32C (86F-89.6F).
From late on Friday night, heavy and thundery bursts of rain associated with hot and humid air are forecast to track northwards all the way up from northern parts of Spain, across the Bay of Biscay, then across France and the Channel before reaching the southern coast of England after midnight.
Count yourself lucky if you miss heavy downpours on Saturday as it looks like large areas of England, Wales and Northern Ireland should see heavy and thundery outbreaks. Scotland is forecast to see more of this later in the day and overnight.
These warm conditions and heavy showers or thunderstorms that push up on a southerly wind affecting parts of the UK and north-west Europe are associated with a complex meteorological phenomenon which we call a "Spanish Plume".
This is very warm air pushed north from the Spanish plateau that reaches the British Isles.
Generally our typical British weather scenario is affected by much cooler Atlantic air as cold fronts encroach from the west. When these two air masses meet, the very warm "plume" air is forced to rise vigorously over the cooler Atlantic air and as a result produces thunderstorms.
Golf fans are probably wondering whether this will affect The Open.
During the very early hours of Friday and into the morning expect showery rain, some heavy and possibly thundery. This should, however, clear to the north by midday.
Saturday looks to be a more severe forecast, unfortunately, with heavy and intense outbursts of rain along with the high likelihood of thunderstorms expected throughout the day.
Sunday looks to be a better day weather-wise, however, with the risk of one or two showers, possibly heavy, during the morning.
And let's not forget the Test match between England and India at Lords this weekend.
There is the risk of heavy and thundery outbursts of rain affecting Greater London, particularly across the far western parts on Saturday.
There is uncertainty though on how far east the stormy weather will spread. Keep in touch with our weather app, WeatherPro, as well as our webpage, raintoday.co.uk, for the latest updates.
It will be a hot day however, albeit not as hot as Friday, with maximum temperatures forecast to reach 27C (80.6F).
:: www.meteogroup.com
MeteoGroup is Europe's largest independent weather forecast provider.
