UK weather: heavy rain to make end of summer a washout in southern England and Wales

Heavy showers and flooding will mean that the end of this year’s summer is a washout.

Yellow weather warnings have been put in place by the Met Office across parts of southern England and Wales from Thursday evening to noon on Friday

The forecaster said that 10-20mm of rain could fall in under an hour in some parts, while prolonged heavy showers near the coast could lead to 50-70mm over the course of a few hours.

London and the south coast – including Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall – will have showers, with areas of south Wales, including Swansea and Cardiff, also having bursts of rainfall.

According to forecasters, bus and train services will probably be affected – a few homes and businesses could also be flooded.

Temperatures in parts of the south will still stick at about 20C, but conditions will be much wetter.

Colder weather is expected across the UK throughout September, with low-pressure systems tending to dominate the overall pattern.

“This will mean showers or longer spells of rain will affect the majority of the UK at times. Some heavy rain or showers are expected in places, most often in the west,” according to the Met Office.

On Tuesday, the Met Office said this summer would “almost certainly” be the UK’s warmest on record as the mean average temperature for the season stood at 16.13C, based on data to 25 August.

If this season is confirmed as setting a new high for average temperature, it will mean all of the UK’s top five warmest summers will have occurred since the year 2000. As it stands, the top five are: 2018 (15.76C); 2006 (15.75C); 2003 (15.74C); 2022 (15.71C) and 1976 (15.70C).