Wales’ heatwave is set to come to an end this weekend as scorching sunny days will be replaced by heavy rain and thunderstorms.
A yellow weather warning for thunderstorms is in place across large parts of South Wales from 8pm on Friday night right through to 10pm on Saturday.
There was already a warning in place for heavy rain, and now the Met office has added thunder to the warning as the heatwave comes to an end with a bang.
Read More: Six in hospital after car hits pedestrians at Welsh pub.
But rest assured, while temperatures will be gradually returning to normal for the time of year they will still be hovering around 20°C in most parts of the country despite the heavy downpours.
By Sunday, Cardiff, Newport and the east of the country will still be under a yellow warning for thunder however most of Wales will be past the worst of the storm.
Met Office weather forecaster Aidan McGivern said : “The low is pushing closer to the UK. We could see a thunderstorm or two, especially over higher ground. They will be very isolated, but where they do occur they will be quite impactful.”
Top temperatures in Wales on Thursday ranged from 26°C on Mumbles Head to 31.2°C in Gogerddan – the highest in Wales so far this year.
Welsh forecaster Derek Brockway says: “Less hot today and the weekend cooler but still warm. No sign of another heatwave once this one ends but towards mid-August, it may turn drier and warmer.”
Weather for your area by postcode:
Here is a breakdown for how the weekend is looking:
Friday
While Wales will still feel very hot, it will be cooler than previous days as more unsettled weather arrives in the evening.
The yellow weather warning for thunderstorm comes into force at 8pm on Friday night and is in place until 10pm on Saturday.
By 8pm on Friday, temperatures in Cardiff will still be hovering around 25°C while Swansea is expected to be slightly cooler at 23°C. The Met Office is showing a low chance of precipitation despite the weather warning being in place.
Further west, Tenby and Aberystwyth will also be in the low 20s as the evening descends, with thunder expected imminently.
The Met Office yellow warning for thunder says: “Heavy rain and thunderstorms will move into southern areas during Friday night, reaching south Wales and the Midlands early on Saturday.
(Image: Met Office)
“This is likely to bring frequent lightning, possible large hail and gusty winds as well as torrential rainfall for some. Where this occurs, perhaps most likely in central parts of southern England, 25 to 35 mm of rain could fall within an hour, with possible flooding.
“Further slow-moving thunderstorms will develop by Saturday afternoon across southern counties of England, easing only slowly through the evening. Not all places affected but where they occur, a renewed threat of torrential rainfall and flooding, some locations seeing 30 to 50 mm within an hour or two. Lightning, large hail and locally gusty winds could pose additional hazards.”
Areas covered by the warning in Wales:
- Blaenau Gwent
- Bridgend
- Caerphilly
- Cardiff
- Carmarthenshire
- Merthyr Tydfil
- Monmouthshire
- Neath Port Talbot
- Newport
- Pembrokeshire
- Powys
- Rhondda Cynon Taf
- Swansea
- Torfaen
- Vale of Glamorgan.
Saturday
The low will slow down and settle over Wales and parts of England.
Aidan says: “There will be prolonged showers or longer spells of rain [that] will be more and more slow moving and will tend to impact south Wales more during Saturday.”
The Met Office weather map for Cardiff show sunshine and showers at 7am with an 80% chance of heavy rain at 10am, and continuing to rain through to 1pm, with sunshine and showers for the rest of the afternoon.
For Swansea , it is showing heavy rain for most of the morning, sunshine and showers between 1pm and 4pm and then the chance of thunderstorms between 4pm and 7pm.
The weather warning for thunder remains in place until 10pm on Saturday night.
(Image: Met Office)
Sunday
By Sunday, most of south west wales will be rid of the thunderstorms with the yellow warning focused on easterly parts of the country.
There is a yellow weather warning for thunder from 9am on Sunday, however just Cardiff, Newport, and the east of the country will be affected.
Aiden says: “The low is slow moving and it is likely to bring some heavy rainfall first thing, and then showers and thunderstorms will break out fairly widely around the low, across much of England.
“It is across parts of Wales that the slowly moving rainfall or showers could cause impact. They are hit and miss, highly variable place to place. Some places, if you get shower after shower, or thunderstorm after thunderstorm, it could get up to 100mm of rainfall.”
The average temperature would be about 23C.
(Image: Met Office)
In Cardiff, the Met Office weather map is showing a dry morning, before sunshine and showers are forecast from 1pm.
For Swansea, it seems to be a better day with sunshine and showers between 1pm and 7pm.
In Brecon, the map is showing a dry morning followed by an afternoon of sunshine and showers between 1pm and 7pm.
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