There is an increasing potential for some disruptive weather across the UK this weekend as humid air moves north across the UK bringing with it the risk of thunderstorms.
A weakening weather front on Saturday will split the country, with cool conditions in the north whilst southern areas remain mostly dry with some sunshine and feeling warm thanks to the humid air and light winds. Even during Saturday there is the threat of some showers forming in the south and west with the chance of the odd rumble of thunder. However, these are expected to be fairly limited in extent with some focus in the southwest.
Chance of disruption from thunderstorms
Deputy Chief meteorologist, Rebekah Sherwin, said: “The notable change in our weather occurs through Saturday evening as increasingly humid air moves up from the south bringing thunderstorms and heavy downpours. These heavy showers and thunderstorms will spread across much of the UK through the day on Sunday with nowhere immune from the chance of seeing them.
“Some downpours could lead to impacts on the transport network and with thunderstorms likely in places some temporary power disruption is possible. There is also the risk of hail and strong winds in places. It is likely that severe weather warnings will be issued as the confidence over the most likely areas to be affected increases. Stay up to date with the weather in your area, as forecasts can change quickly.”
Further ahead
This humid and thundery airmass will be pushed away to the east on Monday with further spells of rain moving across the UK from the west.
Beyond this, we start to see the influence of Atlantic hurricanes on the UK forecast. Hurricane Lee, which will affect northeast USA and east Canada in the short term, is likely to transition into a regular area of low pressure as it re-emerges into the Atlantic early next week. By this stage it will have lost its hurricane characteristics as the sea surface temperatures are not high enough to sustain it, though it is likely to bring a spell of typically Autumnal wet and windy weather to the UK mid-week. Beyond that the forecast becomes more uncertain, but further periods of wet and at times windy weather seem likely.