UK weather: Sun set to shine over the summer solstice

The longest day of the year falls on Sunday 21st June

Visitors to Stonhenge for the summer solstice may be in luck this year (AFP/Getty Images)

While the summer solstice is the longest day of the year, it isn't always the sunniest.

Fortunately, this Sunday's edition looks decidedly promising, with experts predicting that unsettled conditions will make way for clear, warm weather with highs of 24C.

Before then, conditions look slightly more variable. Thursday is set to be warm and sunny throughout the UK, particularly in the south and west, before a cooler and cloudier Friday sets up the weekend.

Met office spokesman Dan Williams told The Independent: “Saturday looks fairly cloudy in many places with top temperatures in the low 20s and rain heading west to east, particularly in Southern parts. It shouldn’t be too much, but there will be some heavy outbreaks.

“Sunday looks better with less rain and more bright spells – top temperatures will be around 24C.”

While the northwest will be cooler, the dry conditions will be good news for the those hoping to venture into the great outdoors to make the most of 16 hours of daylight. It also bodes well for fans of Kylie Minogue, who performs in Hyde Park on Sunday evening.

For Glastonbury, which begins next Wednesday and runs until Sunday 28th June, it is still too early to say if it will be a year to don the wellies.

“Don’t rule it out,” Williams said. “It’s looking like being more unsettled in the northwest with the best weather in the southeast, so it’s difficult to say for the southwest until our reports early next week.”

It is also too soon to know if this will go down in one of the coldest Junes in history. Chilly evening conditions as a result of low pressure have ensured that, while daytime temperatures have not been unusual, average temperatures for the 1st to the 15th of the month were unseasonably low.

“There’s still a lot to play for,” said Williams. “We’ve seen this many times at the start of a month before the weather in the second half has evened the figures out.”