The UK, a country that usually loves to moan about the rain, is begging for a change in the weather after back-to-back heatwaves and drought.
Relentless heatwaves have swept across the UK during the summer months, turning parks and fields bone-dry.
As the fifth heatwave of the season is gripping swathes of England and Wales with 38°C temperatures, most of us are now praying for rain to alleviate another hot spell.
Drought conditions have been officially declared in more than two-thirds of England after scant rain in over a month following the record-dry July.
So against this bleak backdrop, when can we expect some rain next?
While the scorching temperatures might feel like they will never end, some rainfall could be heading to the British Isles next week, according to Jim Dale, the founder of the British Weather Services.
He told that the UK is likely to ‘get a break’ from the heat at the turn of next week.
The temperatures will start ‘leaking away’ during the course of tomorrow, although the South East, East Anglia and London will still be in the heat zone with temperatures possibly pushing to 35C, and around 30C early next week, he forecast.
Jim said: ‘Then we really start cooling down quite markedly after Tuesday, and there might be some rain around Tuesday. That is your first taster.
‘There will definitely be rain in the north and the west, and it will start to move into the South East, where it is most barren.’
After the spell of rain, the weather is set to turn fresher and ‘what you might call a traditional summer with stop and start sunshine and showers,’ Jim said.
He said some of the gradual rain will ‘alleviate some of the difficulties like dust and wildfire problems.’
But the flipside of heavy downpours coupled with prolonged drought, which has made parks and grassland look more like a savanna, is flash flooding.
After the drought in the south, the ground is hard, making it difficult to soak up sudden gushes of water.
Jim said: ‘A big downpour is going to sit on the surface, which is when you could get flash flooding.’
After the 1976 record heatwave, there were ‘widespread floods’ due to prolonged rain and thunderstorms, which could be repeated in some parts of the UK this summer, Jim said.
‘But the drought situation will not be alleviated very easily,’ he said.
‘It’s going to take weeks of sustained rain to get us back to where we need to, and the damage has been done – economic damage and damage to the crops.’
What about a possible heatwave this summer?
Jim predicts that once the temperatures begin to drop next week ‘that could be it as far as major temperatures are concerned.’
And extreme weather, including severe heatwaves lasting longer, is set to become the new norm, exacerbated by climate change and fossil fuel consumption.
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