Search icon

Weather

12th Jul 2024

UK set for coldest summer in 24 years as ‘European monsoon’ set to hit

Zoe Hodges

It’s only going to get worse

As you looked outside your window this morning to see rain drops rolling down the windows, you may have felt confused over which month we are in.

If you were hoping that July may improve as we go along, you might want to lower your expectations as forecasters are predicting this summer to be a wash out.

A European Monsoon is heading straight towards the UK as we experience the tail end of Hurricane Beryl which devastated parts of the Caribbean and the US.

To top it off, it looks like we’re on course to experience the coldest summer in 24 years.

A Met Office forecaster told the Metro: “It will remain unsettled, and next week is likely to see a mostly showery, westerly breeze.

“Winds are likely to be gusty near heavy showers and thunderstorms.”

Meanwhile, the current average UK temperature of 12.8°C, which is 1°C colder than normal, is set to fall even lower with the Met Office predicting it will be the coldest summer since 2000.

The ‘European Monsoon’ is the ill-defined phenomenon of a return of westerly winds in July following a possible weakening in late spring. It is otherwise known as the ‘Return of the Westerlies’.

Met Office forecaster Aidan McGivern said: “The UK’s summer so far has been remarkably cold by recent standards. Since 2000, only 2012 was this cold from June 1st to July 8th.”

Wimbledon has experienced lower than average attendance figures attributed in part to the weather with games being rescheduled.

The current weather can be blamed on the jet stream. The stream of air high up in the atmosphere has flowed across the UK or further south which has allowed areas of low pressure to move in which bring wind and rain with them.

Whilst the UK and north west Europe have been stuck with colder weather, Southern Europe has been experiencing heatwaves and even wildfires on some Greek islands.

On Tuesday Greek authorities were forced to evacuate a children’s hospital and retirement home after a large wildfire broke out.

Almost the whole country has now been put on high risk of fire’s as the heatwave there continues.

Topics:

Weather