More weather records as UK heat set to spike again

A heatwave sweeping the United Kingdom is expected to be shorter‑lived than the previous bouts of extreme heat this summer, with temperatures beginning to feel noticeably cooler by the weekend. Forecasters say Scotland and Northern Ireland will not see the same level of intense heat that is affecting southern England, although eastern parts of Northern Ireland, along with southern and eastern Scotland, are still forecast to record temperatures well above the heatwave threshold. Those regions will be notably above average for mid‑August, and humidity is likely to build from Wednesday night into Thursday. Some locations could climb into the mid‑ to high‑20s °C on Wednesday – a range that is above the typical August daytime high, which usually sits in the high teens to low 20s °C. In contrast, western Scotland and western parts of Northern Ireland are expected to remain somewhat cooler, thanks to cloud cover and occasional showers moving in from the Atlantic. While confidence in the exact details remains low, the shift in conditions could open the door for showers and possibly longer spells of rain. Meteorologists stress that alleviating the ongoing drought will require months of above‑average rainfall.