Heavy rain and gales set to batter parts of the UK tonight

The UK's weather takes a stormy turn this week as heavy rain, strong winds, and coastal gales sweep through the nation. While some regions will bask in occasional sunshine, others face turbulent conditions, with blustery showers and cooler temperatures dominating.

Bright on Monday with plenty of summer sunshine and a little patchy cloud cover. While most regions will stay dry, a few isolated and light showers may develop, primarily in the north and east. Clouds will thicken across Northern Ireland and Scotland during the afternoon and winds will strengthen as an area of low pressure approaches from the northwest. England and Wales will remain dry with long spells of sunshine and feeling warm in the sunshine with highs reaching 22°C in London, 19°C in Birmingham and 17°C in Aberdeen.

Unsettled start with heavy rain and strong winds

A weather front will push in from the west on Monday evening, bringing heavy and persistent rain to Northern Ireland, accompanied by strong winds and coastal gales. Rain will track across Scotland overnight and into parts of northern England and Wales by dawn. Much of central and eastern England should remain mainly dry, although clouds will thicken and winds will strengthen.

Further north, once that band of rain has cleared, there will be a mixture of clear intervals and blustery showers, accompanied by thunder and lightning and strong winds will continue.

Blustery showers and cooler temperatures continue through midweek

This band of rain will continue to track southeastwards on Tuesday morning across England and Wales, but will tend to break up and turn increasingly light and patchy as it clears. Behind it, a bright day will emerge with spells of summer sunshine interspersed with a scattering of blustery showers, which will be most frequent across Scotland and northern England. Remaining very windy for all regions and this will bring a fresher feel to the day as highs climb to 19°C in Norwich, 16°C in Liverpool and 13°C in Glasgow.

Wednesday will bring a bright but breezy day, with spells of sunshine and scattered showers which are expected for most regions. Some showers will be heavy and thundery with a threat of hail and lightning. Winds will be strongest across Scotland and Northern Ireland with gales across the northwest. Another fresh day with cooler air dragged in from the northwest and highs will reach 19°C in London, 16°C in Birmingham and 15°C in Aberdeen.

Another unsettled and wet day on Thursday as an area of rain moves across England and Wales, bringing heavy downpours during the morning before turning increasingly showery during the afternoon. Brighter further north with sunshine and showers across Scotland and Northern Ireland. Friday will round off the working week with another day of sunshine and showers, however, the winds look set to ease.