Cooler temperatures and outbreaks of rain are set to sweep across much of the UK from Sunday, bringing an abrupt end to a late-May heatwave that pushed parts of the country into record territory. By Wednesday, maximum temperatures are expected to fall to between 15C and 20C, with stronger winds making it feel even colder.
That shift matters now because people searching for the latest Metoffice outlook are trying to work out how quickly the weather will turn from record heat to showers, and which parts of the country will be hit hardest. Fresh Atlantic air has already started the change, pushing temperatures down to 24C on Sunday after they reached 30C on Saturday, and the first few days of June are expected to stay lower still.
The change follows days of heatwave conditions in parts of the UK and a week that brought England and Wales their hottest May days on record on two consecutive days. Tuesday saw a new May record of 35.1C at London's Kew Gardens and 32.9C at Cardiff's Bute Park, while amber and yellow heat health alerts were issued for much of England.
A stronger jet stream is now steering areas of low pressure across the country, which should bring rain to most places on Monday. The wet weather may be heavy at times in the west, and Tuesday is likely to bring a mix of sunshine and heavy showers that could be accompanied by thunder and lightning. More rain is expected on Wednesday, along with stronger winds that will make conditions feel noticeably fresher.
The incoming rain will be welcome news for gardeners and growers, especially in southern and eastern England after a very dry few months. But it arrives against a darker backdrop: at least 14 people have died during the hot weather after getting into difficulties in water, including a 15-year-old girl who died in hospital on Saturday after getting into difficulty in the sea off the Merseyside coast on Monday.
Other deaths included a 19-year-old man recovered from a lake in Nottinghamshire earlier in the week, while a body was found during the search for a man who went into water in the Norfolk Broads. Emergency services in Yorkshire also said on Sunday that a search was under way for an 11-year-old boy last seen entering the River Don in Mexborough. The repeated incidents have prompted fresh warnings about the dangers of swimming in open water, especially for children, as the country moves from a spell of extreme heat into a wetter, less settled start to June.
