UK weather: Met Office warns gale force winds and torrential rain to hit Britain before Bank Holiday heatwave

21 August 2019, 12:10

UK weather forecast: 60mph winds could batter Britain ahead of a scorching weekend.

We might have been promised a heatwave this Bank Holiday, but Britain is set to be hit by another bout of bad weather first.

Yep, before you get your shorts out, you might want to reach for the umbrella because heavy rain will be sweeping it’s way across the country today.

The Met Office has warned heavy downpours will hit Scotland, Northern Ireland and north Wales today.

Lighter showers are set to move across the rest of Wales, the Midlands and northern England.

Gale force winds of up to 45mph are thought to hit the Isle of Tiree in Scotland this afternoon, while similarly strong winds are expected in the north of England.

In the south, there is a slightly sunnier outlook as it’s mostly dry and cloudy weather today with some warm sunshine in places.

Read More: August Bank Holiday weather forecast: UK to bask in 30C scorcher following weeks of rain

A spokesman for netweather.tv told Mirror.co.uk: "A deepening low pressure system to the north-west on Wednesday will bring increasingly windy and eventually wet conditions to the island of Ireland initially in the morning, before spreading east across western Scotland and the far north-west of England by the evening.

"Some showers developing across northern areas ahead of the heavier rain arriving from the west in the evening.

"But much of Wales, central, southern and eastern England should see a fine day with some good spells of sunshine, as high pressure builds.

"Feeling warmer too, temperatures reaching 19-22C. Further north across Scotland and Northern Ireland reaching 15-18C."

Tomorrow, strong winds will continue in the northwest with outbreaks of rain in some areas, however central, eastern and southern areas will see the best of the sunshine.

On Friday, temperatures are set to rise to 24C ahead of the scorching Bank Holiday weekend.

By Saturday, the mercury is then expected to rise to 27C in London, with temperatures of 30C hitting southern areas on Monday.

The hottest August Bank Holiday Monday since 1965 is 28.2C in Lincolnshire, so the mini-heatwave could smash this record.