UK weather: Met Office warns thunderstorms to bring heavy rain and hail in just HOURS

Temperatures returned to around or below average in the final few days of the month, something which is set to continue as we roll into July - the mercury is set to fall to around 3C in parts of Scotland and 5C in northern England over the weekend.

But the cold weather is sadly not the only thing Britons craving summer will be disappointed about. Moving into the weekend, the Met Office said the weather will “stay on the unsettled side”.

Looking ahead to Saturday, the national weather forecaster said: “Tomorrow will be a mixed day, with sunny spells and showers. Some of the showers will be heavy at times with the risk of hail and thunder. Breezy and cool.”

Today also offers little relief for those seeking sun and heat, with the Met Office predicting “heavy showers” across the UK.

In its five-day weather forecast, the weather service said: “A cloudy day across southern counties of England and Wales, with outbreaks of rain and drizzle. Sunnier elsewhere, with scattered showers across parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland. Winds generally lighter than yesterday, but breezy around the coasts. Rather cool.

“The rain turning heavy this evening across southern England and Wales, pushing northeastwards overnight. Heavy showers following from the west. Turning chilly under the clearest skies in the northwest.”

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The dreary weather even comes with a yellow rain warning, which has been issued for some parts of Scotland. It comes into effect at 10pm tonight and will last until 10am on Saturday morning.

Frank Saunders, a Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “An area of heavy and quite persistent rain will develop across parts of north and northeast Scotland later on Friday evening. This will continue overnight before turning showery on Saturday morning.

“It is possible that 20-30mm of rain is likely to fall quite widely in around 12 hours, but there could even be up to 50 mm in a few areas.”

However, it’s not just those in Scotland that should brace themselves for the rain. The Met Office said: “It’s likely that almost everyone will see some showers at some point, perhaps some heavy, thundery ones especially on Sunday.”

They conceded that some beams of sunlight would poke their way through the grey.

“There will be some sunny spells on offer though, meaning it could feel fairly pleasant in between the showers, with temperatures possibly peaking around 18/19°C.”

Netweather has said that the strong showers across the weekend will bring them with a risk of thunder, on Sunday in particular.

Jo Farrow, forecaster at the weather service, said: “The weekend is looking showery and cool. We have an unsettled Friday with blustery showers, sunny spells coming and going.

“Frontal rain in the far south where pulses of heavier rain will wax and wane. These will arrive from the southwest, heading up to The Wash tonight.”