UK weather: June 'unseasonably cold' at night, but highs of 25C expected next week

The UK has seen grass frost at night in some areas of the country

Have you been a little chilly at night? It has been a little unseasonably cold as the nation headed to bed this June in some areas of the country.

A spokesperson at the Met Office gave The Independent a rundown on the week ahead as we approach the summer solstice, and how the start of this June compares to recent years:

Compared to recent years:

"It’s not been the most Summer-y start to June, in the first few weeks we had a nasty bout of low pressure coming through which was a little wet and windy. It was OK last week but it wasn’t desperately warm and then this weekend we’ve experienced some rain again, a little chilly in some places.

"Last year at the start of June we had some fine sunny weather, with lots of sunshine, but in the second week of June we had low pressure which drew in humid weather but also some outbreaks of rain and thunderstorms, so not dissimilar to what we’ve seen last week and the week before. After that we saw high pressure building back in, so a similar kind of picture to this year, with highs of 25, 27 degrees Celsius.

"In 2013, the beginning of June was settled and sunny in most areas, after the 9th it became more unsettled with some heavy rain again with some humid air across the South for a few days, reaching 26, 27 again later on in the month, again pretty similar to what we’ve seen so far this year.

"Coincidentally there seems to be some sort of pattern there. Before June we’ve seen some decent, sunny end of springs but come the start of summer we’ve seen some rain around and some cool weather.

"Night time temperatures appear to have been low for the time of year, occasionally dipping down to single figures in some areas and we’ve even seen some grass frost, up until last night. We’ll probably see some low temperatures this coming night too. The daytime temperatures this year have been around average, or even slightly a little bit above, so nothing too remarkable about how things have started this June, except some pretty unseasonable night time temperatures in some places."

The week ahead:

"In general it’s a fairly settled week, we have got high pressure around, with the fairest weather coming across England and Wales, particularly across the South. All the way through the next week there is a small thread of outbreaks of rain with at times some breezy winds, affecting the North West of the UK, Scotland and Northern Ireland in particular.

"By the middle of the week we could see some temperatures in the mid twenties, unlikely to break any records this year but certainly some nice temperatures and warm, sunny conditions across the South and East, as we see a sort of North/South divide across the country, with more brisk winds at outbreaks of rain the further North you go."

Monday:

"It looks as if things are going to settle down to a degree after quite a wet end to last week and the start of the weekend for some, particularly in the South. The majority of that rain has now cleared through so as we start the new working week it looks as if it will be an improved picture for most, especially across the South of the UK.

"So we’ve got high pressure building back in, which will last across a lot of the South of the UK from Monday and through the start of the week.

"Further North we see bouts of rain starting to make their way in to Northern and Western parts of the UK, so most of the UK will start pretty fine first thing tomorrow.

"As we head through the course of the day we’ll see cloud increasing through parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, and even into parts of Northern England as well. And following into Noon we’ll see outbreaks of rain across parts of Western Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland.

"Nothing particularly heavy in terms of the rainfall, just a cloudy and wet end to the day across those areas.

"For much of the rest of England and Wales it’s a different picture, we’ll see dry weather and some decent spells of sunshine. After a not-too-warm weekend we’ll also start to see temperatures responding as well, so tomorrow we should see quite a few places in England and Wales heading up to the mid-to-high teens and we could see 20 Celsius through parts of Greater London for example.

"In the Northern West where it will be cloudier and wetter, temperatures won’t be as favourable so across much of Northern Scotland we’re looking at 13 or 14 Celsius for example. Northern Ireland could get up to about 16 or 17 Celsius which is close to average for the area, but it’s a real North/South split as we head through tomorrow."

Tuesday:

"Tuesday looks fairly similar, a cloudy looking picture across most of the northern third of the UK, Scotland, Northern Ireland parts of Northern England, and again we have outbreaks of rain, this time with some brisk winds across the North West of the UK.

"The further south you come, again it’s more of a dry day with sunshine, light winds and temperatures up even more, so by Tuesday we should see quite a lot of England and Wales getting up into the high teens and even low twenties. Somewhere between 19-21 across England and Wales and again the warmest part of the UK looking like it will be across London and parts of the South East, possibly reaching 23 Celsius.

"Northern Ireland could see 19 or 20 onTuesday and through the North of the UK and Scotland we should see around 14 or 15. A lot of the UK will start to become a bit warmer as we head through Tuesday."

Wednesday:

"On Wednesday again a similar looking picture, pieces of cloud and outbreaks of rain continuing through Scotland and Northern Ireland and we may start to see that cloud and rain starting to edge further South into Northern England, maybe across Northern Wales by the end of Wednesday. Further South, aross the rest of England and Wales there’s a similar kind of picture to previous days with continued high pressure across the South resulting in another fine day, probably a good deal of sunshine. Probably the best temperatures experienced across the South East, maybe as high as 24 and 25 in places.

"East Anglia and the Midlands also look to be quite warm in what should be the most pleasant day of the week, with some places reaching the mid twenties."

Thursday and Friday:

"On Thursday, a lot of the UK looks pretty fine again with high pressure generally influencing the weather, with only one or two showers across Scotland, nothing too persistent in terms of rainfall. It looks like the fine weather will last through to the end of the week."

The Weekend:

Sunday will be the longest day of the year as the summer solstice, and should be, sadly, a little bit rainy for a day with so many hours to spend on activities.

"At the weekend we may start to see outbreaks of rain returning again across the North West, across parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, and also we’ll see temperatures starting to tail off again. Following on from our mid-twenties around Wednesday, it looks like come the weekend we’ll be back down to mid to high teens, with some southern areas possibly experiencing temperatures in the low twenties."