Issued: 0530hrs Wednesday 28th July 2010
Duty forecaster: Simon Keeling

Staying hot and sunny in the Mediterranean, but rain and cloud to the north

Wednesday
A fine day across Spain and Portugal with plenty of sunshine here throughout. There will be more hot sunshine across central and southern parts of France, although the north is going to be plagued by some showery bursts of rain and more cloud. A few showers for the Low Countries with some cloud and outbreaks of rain affecting Germany. Showers in Poland, some of them heavy. For Hungary and Austria the day should be fair with sunny spells, and it should stay fair through Switzerland as well.
High pressure across Italy brings fair weather here with plenty of sunshine and dry weather. It is going to be staying dry and sunny for Greece too, with more sunshine in Crete, Cyprus and Turkey. Heavy showers will be affecting Bulgaria and Romania.
Northern Europe sees cloud and periods of some heavy rain through the Baltic States, this cloud and patchy rain extending to Finland as well. Fair with some bright spells over Norway, although cloud and showery outbreaks of rain trouble Denmark and Sweden.

Thursday
Another hot day for Spain and Portugal today. Good spells of sunshine throughout the day. A band of cloud and some showers across southern parts of France, with more central and northern areas being dry and sunny. A few showers to come over the Low Countries, these affecting parts of Germany too. Poland sees cloud and periods of rain at times. Further cloud and rain for Hungary, with some showers across Austria and Switzerland.
High pressure across Italy brings fine conditions here with good spells of sunshine. There will be further sunshine through the day over all parts of Greece and Turkey, as well as Cyprus and Crete. Bulgaria and Romania should be dry with sunny spells.
To the north low pressure brings showery rain to the Baltic States, with more persistent rain in Finland. Norway has an unsettled day with heavy showers here, and some showers will be affecting Denmark and Norway too.