Issued: 0530hrs Friday 1st July 2011
Duty forecaster: John Ejdowski

Hot for Spain, Russia

Today
Mainly across England today with just the odd shower. Lots of sunshine too across France with a few widely scattered afternoon showers. More in the way of showers are forecast across Belgium, Holland and Germany with some quite heavy. Heavy showers and thunderstorms will affect the Alps with a strong mistral blowing across southern France. Across Italy it's unsettled as well with sunny spells and showers. Hot and sunny across Portugal and Spain and sunny across the Balearics into Corsica and Sardinia. Unsettled with sunshine and heavy showers today across the former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, The Ukraine up into Belarus, The Baltic States and Russia, these heavy and thundery. Sunny and hot across Greece and Turkey. Mostly sunny and dry across Finland today with showers expected across Norway and Sweden. Hot across eastern Europe and Spain today. Outbreaks of rain are forecast across Poland.

Saturday
High pressure will give England and France a fine, dry mostly sunny day. Expect a day of sunshine and showers across Belgium, Holland, Norway and Germany, some heavy. An area of heavy rain will lie from southern Sweden across Denmark into northern Germany across Poland into Belarus. Mainly dry across Norway while heavy showers affect western Finland. Dry and sunnier in the east and across much of Russia today. Sunny too across the Baltic States. Heavy showers with thunderstorms will persist across the Ukraine into Romania. Sunny, very warm and dry across the former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey today. Lots of heavy showers with thunder will continue across Italy today. Fine, summery weather extends westward across Sardinia, Corsica, the Balearics into a hot and sunny Spain and Portugal.