The chances of another heatwave in London this year have not quite been extinguished even as unsettled weather takes hold.
The capital has sweltered in five prolonged hot spells since late May - with temperatures reaching a 2026 high of 38.1C in Kew Gardens on Thursday, August 13.
Temperatures have dropped markedly since then, with a high of 22C expected today (Thursday, August 20). The weeks-long dry spell has also been broken with rain falling on London on three consecutive days this week.
The Met Office’s long-range forecast earlier held out hope - for those already missing the hot weather - of another heatwave before the season is out.
“There is a chance that late-season hot spells or heatwaves develop, especially in the south,” the agency stated earlier in the week, in its forecast for August 30 to September 13.
That “chance” appeared to have receded as of Thursday. The Met Office’s long-range forecast, covering the period September 3-17, predicted a “rather unsettled” start to autumn, with all areas “probably seeing a mixture of showers or longer spells rain interspersed with drier interludes.”
It continued: “Temperatures likely varying around average, some warm or hot spells are possible but unlikely prolonged in early September.
“By mid-September, there may be an increase in the extent of drier, more settled weather, especially in the south and east, though signals become very weak.”
However, an update on Friday has once again opened the door to another hot spell over London.
It acknowledges that the weather is going to be “most likely changeable at first” with rain “across many areas, perhaps heavy and thundery in places”.
But an improvement appears to be on the horizon as the month progresses.
It states: “Further into September, drier weather may become more prevalent, especially in the south and southeast, with any more unsettled conditions tending to become confined further north and northwest.
“Temperatures will probably be near normal at first, but may turn warmer later with a chance of some hot periods in the south.”
The latest forecast comes after a thunderstorm warning for parts of northern England expired on Thursday morning.
The UK is facing increasingly severe weather extremes such as heatwaves, droughts and flooding – with a risk of surface water floods as heavy rain falls on baked dry ground – as a result of climate change, caused mostly by burning fossil fuels for power stations, vehicles, heating buildings and industry.
Nearly three quarters of England including London, and all of Wales, are in drought as a result of the hot and dry conditions.
