Forecasters predict tropical humid heat and rain after driest July on record

Parts of the UK are set to see tropical temperatures, while some can expect heavy rain and possibly thunderstorms.

Forecasters are predicting hot, sunny, and humid weather in the South East in the coming days, with highs of 30C in the south of England on Tuesday, remaining in the high 20s through to Thursday.

Temperature are likely to remain warm in northern parts of England and Scotland, but dropping from 25C on Tuesday to 21C in the first half of the week.

Met Office meteorologist Rachel Ayers said it would be “very warm to hot, and humid in the South East” but with “temperatures near average in the North West where it will also be windy”.

Heavy showers are expected to come down across north Wales, Scotland and central and northern England during on Tuesday morning,

More downpours will be accompanied by a band of cloud moving eastwards across Wales and England on Wednesday and further rain in northern parts of the UK on Thursday.

Wednesday also brings the possibility of a thunderstorm as showers pass south-eastwards across Wales and England, as well as breezes in the North and a low risk of gales for north-west Scottish coasts.

Northern parts of the UK can also expect to see further showers on Thursday.

It comes after the driest July in England since records began, according to provisional figures from the Met Office.

South-east and central southern England saw an average of only 5.0mm of rain last month, while East Anglia had 5.4mm.

For both areas it was the lowest amount of rainfall in July since Met Office records began almost 200 years ago, in 1836.

Ms Ayers said: “The next couple of days will see unsettled weather for parts of the UK, particularly in the north and west where there will be outbreaks of rain that could be heavy at times, and it will also be windy across the north particularly on Tuesday.

“In the south it remains generally dry though there is a chance of some rain on Wednesday though this is unlikely to bring much rainfall to the far south coast and South East.

“It will be very warm to hot and humid over the next couple of days across the South East during the day and overnight, though from Thursday it will be more widely cooler and fresher for a couple of days.”