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Wednesday is off to a mixed start. Heavy showers are showers are affecting the south eastern corner and in northern England and Wales there are patchy outbreaks of rain. This morning the showers steadily clear away from the south east to leave a dry and bright afternoon. The band of rain in the north continues to edge southeastwards but it increasingly fades away during the course of the day. Areas to the north of it will be fresher and although scattered showers are likely there should be a good deal of dry weather.

Maximum temperatures range from 12C (54F) in the north to 22C (72F) in the south east and East Anglia. See the rain and lightning radar for the latest view.

Meteo France Arpege, forecast rain, 15:00 BST Wed 29th August

Forecast short cuts

The month ahead - August

Winter 2018/19 weather

Tonight scattered showers are likely but most places stay dry, and clear spells form. It will be quite chilly and in sheltered northern valleys a ground frost is possible.

Tomorrow should be a mostly dry day but a few showers probably bubble up. Cloud amounts vary and despite some sunny spells, temperatures won't be great for late August with maximum values close to 20C (68F) in the south.

Friday is the last day of the meteorological summer and it is set to end quietly in much of the country. After a chilly start sunny spells develop in central and eastern areas. In the west cloud starts to build and during the second half of the day outbreaks of rain push into Northern Ireland and possibly parts of western Britain.

Meteo France Arpege, forecast rain, 16:00 BST Fri 31st August

Weekend weather

This weekend southern and central regions should be dry and there are indications of it turning increasingly warm. By Sunday temperatures may reach 27C (81F). On Saturday a band of wet weather affects the north but it dries out as it pushes southeastwards into the high pressure area to leave a fine and warm Sunday.

Mostly fine next week

High pressure is expected to continue to boss the weather across the UK for much of next week. That leads to mostly dry and fine conditions. Temperatures possibly reach 28C (82F) in the southern half of the country and there are signs of the warmth filtering northwards. The greatest risk of rain is either from an area of low pressure pushing up from the continent to bring thundery showers to the south, or from Atlantic disturbances brushing north western areas.

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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

A good deal of dry weather is shown for much of the country during the next 16 days. Temperatures fluctuate early on but through the first third of September there is a strong signal for them to be above the average. View latest GEFS.