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Tuesday starts dry in much of the UK but there are light showers in the north. Through the day showers become more widespread in northern counties and there will be some heavy ones in the north east. Southern and central regions may see an odd shower but most places remain dry with variable amounts of cloud.

Temperatures won't be as high as in recent days ranging from 16C (61F) in the far north to 26C (78F) in the south. See the rain and lightning radar for the latest view.

Meteo France Arpege, forecast rain, 14:00 BST Tue 17th July

Forecast short cuts

The month ahead - July 

Wimbledon tennis Hourly - 16 day

Tonight the showers fade away and clear spells develop. Temperatures fall into single figures in the north and the south has a fresher night too. 

Tomorrow scattered showers break out in the north but elsewhere the focus is on dry and bright weather. Temperatures  generally will be up a couple of degrees on today's.  

DWD ICON, forecast temperatures, 16:00 BST Wed 18th July

North to south split

By Thursday it becomes very warm again and in the south maximum temperatures won't be far off 30C (86F). The warmth spreads northwards and although a few showers are possible it stays mostly dry. In the far north west thicker cloud could bring outbreaks of rain. 

Forecast details for Friday and the weekend are somewhat uncertain. It looks as though southern and central areas have predominantly fine and very warm conditions. In the north a more changeable picture is expected with showers or more persistent spells of rain pushing in from the west at times.   

GFS, forecast pressure and rain, 16:00 BST Sun 22nd July

Next week brings further very warm spells to the south but a more changeable set up is expected in the north. There is also a chance of low pressure areas becoming slow moving to the west of the UK. If that happens plumes of air from southern Europe and North Africa could bring very hot and humid conditions into the UK.

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Forecast tools

Check the latest satellite images, computer model charts and rain radar:

1981 - 2010 daily temperature charts

Temperature anomalies

DWD ICON forecast charts

EUMETSAT high resolution satellite images

Rain and precipitation type radar

Meteo France Arpege forecast charts

Global Forecast System (GFS) forecast charts

16 day GEFS ensembles at a glance

Southern counties have a good deal of dry and warm weather, although there is a weak signal for the risk of rain to increase late in the month. In the north a more changeable outlook is favoured. View latest GEFS.