Summer is FINALLY here! Drenched Britain gets a respite from the rain

Warm temperatures and sunny conditions will bring respite to Britain from today after nearly a fortnight of thunderstorms and heavy rain. 

Today is expected to bring sunshine and showers for much of the country, with conditions gradually improving into the weekend as temperatures reach 77F (25C) in the South East of England by Sunday.

Conditions will get even warmer into next week when 84F (29C) is possible by Wednesday – representing a stark change to the wet weather that has plagued the country for much of June. 

Saturday and Sunday are likely to be mostly dry, but forecasters warned severe thunderstorms and downpours could again return early next week – potentially bringing further disruption to the country.

A beautiful sunrise is photographed in the New Forest at Rockford Common in Ringwood, Hampshire, this morning

The blue hour at St Mary’s Lighthouse on the Northumberland coast this morning as the weather conditions improve

The sun rises the New Forest at Rockford Common in Ringwood today as much of Britain enjoys a respite from the rain

The sun rises today over Coquet Island in Northumberland, which is a haven for 90 per cent of the roseate tern population

Sunrise in the New Forest at Rockford Common today. Pleasant conditions are expected for much of the country this morning

Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell said: ‘Today will certainly be less eventful than the last couple of days. 

‘The heaviest and most frequent showers will be up across Scotland, where there is a risk of a few thunderstorms, but not on the scale of what we saw across southern parts of the UK on Tuesday night and into yesterday. 

Britain is expecting better conditions in most areas today

‘For the longest day of the year on Friday, England and Wales will have a fairly dry and bright day with some good spells of sunshine. Scotland and Northern Ireland will have a continued risk of some showers but they will be few and further between.’

He added that after a fine weekend, storms will roll in from the west from Sunday evening. Mr Snell said: ‘After the brief calm and more settled spell, we will potentially see another spell of heavy rain and severe thunderstorms into next week. Watch this space.’

It follows torrential rain and a ‘spectacular electrical storm’ lashing parts of the UK on Tuesday night.

Homes were left without power and roads were flooded in parts of the South East, while Lenham in Kent saw 1.7in (42mm) of rain in the space of just one hour.

The Met Office said there were 41,000 ‘cloud to cloud’ lightning strikes over the UK sea, northern France and Low Countries overnight. Some 358 of those were from clouds to the ground over the UK. 

Temperatures will be warmer for most areas today as conditions improve for many parts of Britain towards the weekend

The UV index is high for much of Britain today (left), while the pollen count is high for most areas of England as well (right)

At Royal Ascot yesterday, 0.27in (7mm) of rain fell throughout the day, with 0.16in (4mm) falling in just over an hour. It was one of the wettest parts of the country, with temperatures of about 63F (17C) in the afternoon.

Meteorologist Luke Miall said: ‘There wasn’t a huge amount of rainfall if you look at the entire day but the majority of it came down in one go with quite unfortunate timing. It’s also been very humid so will have felt a bit cooler.’

The most rain that has ever fallen at Royal Ascot was on June 19, 1973, when 43mm fell in a single day. Conditions are set to improve for Ladies Day today, however, with sunshine and a few sporadic showers.