August heatwave to be short, sweet and southern

‘Mixed weather’ to return by weekend as high temperatures allow for brief summer, though much of the country will miss out Sweet, short and largely southern, a three-day heatwave is warming the beginning of August after average weather in July for the fifth year in a row. Forecasters issued the good news larded with caution and warnings that mediocre conditions are expected to return across the UK before the weekend. Much of the country will also miss out on sweltering temperatures that are likely to reach the low 30Cs (mid-80Fs) in London and the south-east between now and Thursday. Thunderstorms will then signal a return to the traditional “mixed weather” familiar since the last really hot summer in 2006. Mark Seltzer, a forecaster at the Met Office, used two diminutives to avoid getting “staycation” holidaymakers excited, describing the hot spell as “a little mini-heatwave”. He said: “It looks good for south-east England now, but that’s going to break down quickly to changeable conditions, a few bits of rain and thunderstorms and freshening conditions coming from the west.” July did at least end with a warm weekend in many places, raising sea temperatures to 17C (63F) off the Channel coast where resorts from Bournemouth to Brighton enjoyed bumper business. Every hire deckchair and sunbed was taken along the seven miles of beach around Bournemouth, car parks were full by breakfast time and No Vacancies signs garlanded hotels and B&Bs. Coastguards newly saved from proposed government cuts were kept busy, with rescues including the salvage of a yacht belonging to the visiting Olympic sailing team from Brazil. The boat slipped her moorings in Portland harbour and was carried on to rocks in the bay. Tony Conlan, a forecaster at MeteoGroup, said that early hopes for July had faded as the month went by without significant spells of hot weather. He said: “The last really good summer we had was 2006 when we had the warmest July on record. That now seems a distant memory.” This year, July managed a maximum 27.50C (81F), appropriately at London’s Olympic park, but also saw a low of minus 0.80C (30F) at Kinbrace in Sutherland, Scotland. Rainfall was also the lowest since 2006 but there was little compensation from sunshine which was below average for the month at 188 hours. Weather Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk

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