- Drab Britain is set to continue with cool and wet weather for the next week
- Meanwhile a ‘heat dome’ in Europe is set to trap warm air across continent
- Two deaths have been reported in Cyprus caused by searing 44C temperatures
If you’re wondering what happened to the summer – it’s across the Channel.
Britain is set to continue with cool and wet weather for the next week in a drab month dubbed Juneuary.
But a ‘heat dome’ in Europe will trap warm air this week and exacerbate a heatwave that has already seen temperatures soar past 44C (111.2F) in some places and caused two deaths in Cyprus.
It means while firefighters are tackling wildfires in parts of the Continent, barbecuing will remain a hazardous pastime in the UK as showers threaten to extinguish the flames.
A dry spell with warmer temperatures should creep in from around Tuesday next week, however – possibly saving festivalgoers from a muddy quagmire at Glastonbury, which begins on June 26.
Arnau Fernandez, a forecaster with DTN, formerly MeteoGroup, said: ‘There’s a big contrast between the UK and central and southern Europe.
‘A warm air mass is coming from Africa and settling across the Mediterranean and pushing into central Europe, while the UK has a northerly flow of air, which is why it’s cooler.’
Mr Fernandez recommended carrying umbrellas ‘just in case, and coats early in the morning’.
Temperatures have been between 2-4C below average in England and Wales during June, while daily rainfall has been 3-4mm above average.
Thermometers should just scrape past 20C (68F) in the south for the early part of this week but will not rise above 17C (62.6F) in the north.
By next week conditions will be 5-6C warmer, with parts of the south hitting 26C (78.8F).
The heat dome over Europe – an area of high pressure that parks over an area and traps warm air – intensifies heatwaves and significantly increases the risk of wildfires.
A high of 45.3C (113.5F) was recorded in Cyprus late last week, where an 84-year-old woman who died from heatstroke on Saturday became the second person to succumb to the condition in recent days.
Firefighters have also been tackling blazes on the island.
Other parts of Greece and Turkey have reached 44C (111.2F).
Countries hit by increasingly hot conditions from this week include Italy, Hungary, Poland, the Balkans and Germany, where the European Football Championship is taking place.
Meanwhile, local flooding is possible from surface water in part of the north of England on Monday and Tuesday, according to the Met Office.
Land, roads and some properties will be affected and there could be travel disruption.