UK braces for heavy rain and strong winds as heatwave ends

Large parts of the UK are forecast to be hit by heavy rain and strong winds at the end of August and again in early September, with weather models and forecasters warning the storms could sweep across much of the country and mark an abrupt end to the recent hot spell. The first system is expected to arrive over the weekend beginning August 30, with a second, slower-moving band of rain projected for the opening days of September, forecasters said.

Model runs, including the GFS, chart a band of rain moving eastwards across the UK on Saturday and Sunday that will affect southern and western counties first before spreading north and east. Early-morning maps for August 30 show intense downpours focused on parts of Hampshire, Somerset, Herefordshire and southern Wales, with some local model outputs indicating rainfall rates of up to 10 millimetres per hour in those areas and widespread rates of about 5 millimetres per hour across an arc from Cumbria to Kent by mid-morning. Other chart products show bands of precipitation stretching more than 450 miles from the south coast to northern Scotland by midday on September 3.

The Met Office has warned of changeable and unsettled conditions...