UK weather: Britons face tropical conditions as 29C heat followed by heavy rain

Parts of England will see highs of 29C today as the Met Office warns of heavy rainfall in other parts of the country.

The Met Office has said south east England can expect hot, sunny and dry weather in the coming days following highs of 30C in London on Tuesday.

In southern England, the mercury could reach 29C on Wednesday and remain in the high 20s through to Thursday, while temperatures in northern parts of England and Scotland are likely to remain warm but will drop to just above 20C.

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”.

Forecaster Aidan McGivern added: “A cloudy gloomy start to Wednesday, a lot of clouds covering the hills of Wales and the south west.

“An area of rain pushes into the midlands and central southern England then turns to showers and fades away before it affects the south east. So once again largely dry and another warm day 28C, 29C once the sun comes through.”

On Thursday, more rain will cover northern parts of the UK. Wednesday will also bring the possibility of thunderstorms as showers move across towards the south east across Wales and England.

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

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.

“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.”

The rain comes as July 2022 was recorded as the driest in England since 1911, with only 24 per cent of the expected amount of rain, the Met Office said based on its provisional figures.

The National Drought Group held an emergency meeting in July amid concern that a drought may need to be declared if the hot and dry weather persists. Most of England is suffering from “prolonged dry weather”, but no parts are yet considered to be in drought.