High pressure will bring drier, sunnier weather across the UK this weekend after several days of heavy, sometimes thundery downpours. Friday will still see further heavy showers, particularly across England and Wales, while Scotland and Northern Ireland stay largely dry, but conditions improve significantly by Saturday and Sunday with sunny spells returning and daytime temperatures picking up again, especially in southern England.

Friday will bring brisk northerly winds and cooler daytime highs of around 12C in northern Scotland to 21C in southern England, with temperatures set to miss 25C anywhere in the UK for the first time since 29 June. Nights will turn notably chilly, dropping to 3-4C in rural Scotland and northern England, though by Sunday afternoon highs recover to 16-20C in Scotland and Northern Ireland and 19-25C in England and Wales. Despite the recent rain and some flash flooding, England's drought — affecting over two-thirds of the country, alongside all of Wales — continues to worsen, prompting the National Drought Group to move to weekly meetings; forecasters warn the outlook beyond the weekend remains uncertain, with rain returning next week and further hot spells still possible in September.