A yellow weather warning for rain has been issued for swathes of the UK this weekend in what looks set to be a wet miserable start to the summer holidays.
Forecasters say up to 30mm of rain will be dumped “widely” across northern England and northern Wales, with nearly a month’s worth falling in the worst affected areas.
Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle are among the cities covered by the warning, which is in force all day on Sunday. Residents of those cities have been warned of disruption to outdoor events.
It comes as millions of families are expected to take to the roads over the weekend for a day trip or holiday, according to the RAC.
England fourth test day cricket match against Australia in the Ashes series in Manchester has been delayed as a result of showers and golfers in the Open Championship in Liverpool are battling through the wet conditions.
The Met Office said some areas will see “heavy and persistent” rain on Saturday, especially over high ground in the west.
The entire first two weeks of the holidays are set to be a washout across the UK, but there are signals that indicate during the second week of August the weather could start to become more settled.
The UK is seeing poor weather due to the position of the jet stream – which is also pushing high pressure to the south where parts of Europe are seeing a heatwave.
Rachel Ayers, meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “At the moment it’s divided, we sit on the cold side of the jet to the north of it, we’ve got low pressure coming.
“It can stay like this for quite a while as it has been for the last few weeks. It’s hard to say when it will all break down, it’s not looking like anything will soon.
“The heatwave is starting to ease a little in parts of Europe, but now the focus is moving to Italy and Greece away from Spain.”
She added: “Looking at a longer range, it will be cool and changeable, into the second week of August it could be a little more settled.
“But it doesn’t mean we’re not going to see any settled interludes in the meantime, on Tuesday we’ve got a nudge of high pressure which means showers will be less heavy and more isolated, so it’ll bring a more settled day.
“The overall picture for the next couple of weeks is mostly damp and no prolonged spells of settled weather or above average temperatures.”
The temperature will be changeable but likely below average over the coming weeks, the forecaster added.
More to follow on this story…