A deluge of wet weather is set to be unleashed on the UK within hours brought hurtling towards the country by the Atlantic jet stream – and rain could last for 10 days.
The unseasonably chilly temperatures and wet weather are due in part to the air current that drives the movement of storm systems over the British Isles.
At the moment it is sitting over the UK when usually this time of year it would be further to the north.
The wind current travels high in the atmosphere hitting speeds of up to 200mph, meaning it rapidly moves large weather systems across the North Atlantic towards the country.
Maps show strong winds pelting the UK from Monday, with a risk of storms in the east – and it won’t be letting up any time soon.
The stormy weather is also heading over much of Europe, bringing an end to the heatwave.
The Met Office said “a deep low-pressure system rapidly approaches from the west” bringing “a mix of rain and showers quite widely, and some very strong winds, especially for south and south-western coasts”.
Met Office Chief Meteorologist Steve Ramsdale added: “On Wednesday there is a chance of impacts both from rainfall and strong winds. Persistent rain feeding into the eastern part of northern England in particular, sees the risk of some surface water flooding.
“There is also the potential for some heavy and thundery showers, which could be slow moving in places with a risk of hail, across central and southern areas. The stronger winds however are more limited to the south coast.”
BBC weather forecaster Gemma Plumb said it was “quite unusual” to see stormy gale force conditions in August. She told the BBC the jet steam air current was sitting over the UK at present when normally this time of year it would be to the north of the country.
She said: “This has brought areas of low pressure and unsettled weather to the UK over the last few weeks and has brought the hot weather to southern Europe.”
The Met Office added the long-term outlook for better weather didn’t look good. They said: “There are currently no strong signals for any warmer or more settled weather, with the unsettled regime looking most likely to continue to dominate at least for the first half of the month.
“On balance, the greatest chance of seeing any brief, drier and slightly warmer interludes, would most likely be later in August. However, it looks fairly unlikely that we will see any prolonged or excessive heat, with the chance of heatwaves here in the UK being lower than some recent Augusts.”
The prolonged wet weather has crushed the hopes of children and families across the UK as there will not be a heatwave during the school holidays.
The Met Office has given a date later this summer for when warmer weather could return, but say a heatwave is “fairly unlikely”, so it’s bad news for staycationing parents.