Issued: 0530hrs Saturday 5th July 2014
Duty forecaster: Garry Nicholson
High temperatures in southern and eastern Europe
Saturday
A hot and sunny day to come for southern Spain and Portugal. Cooler around the northern coast of Spain, with some showery rain. A few showers for northern Italy, but hot sunshine for much of the Italian peninsula. Greece and the Balkan states are also hot and sunny, although breezy through the Greek Islands. A few showers in eastern Turkey, otherwise it is also dry and hot. Warm sunshine also for southern France, but further north in France it is cloudier and breezy, with showers or longer spells of rain, particularly in the north and north-west. Outbreaks of rain also affect Belgium and the Netherlands, whilst there are a few thundery showers in Germany. Thunderstorms are expected across the Alps, in Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republic by the afternoon. Warm temperatures in Poland, eastern Germany and Sweden thanks to a southerly breeze. Rain and showers in Norway, drier around the Baltic Sea and for much of eastern Europe.
Sunday
Hot and sunny again in southern Spain, whilst rain affects northern parts of Spain and Portugal thanks to a cold front. This front also extends across France, producing heavy and thundery rain for western and northern France during Sunday, spreading into south-eastern France with thundery showers later. Thunderstorms also break out for northern Italy and the Alpine states, whilst the south remains dry and hot. A few thundery showers for the Balkans, although Greece and Turkey are largely dry and hot. Bursts of rain for Belgium, the Netherlands and western Germany. High temperatures affect eastern Germany, Poland and eastern Europe again on Sunday, with highs topping 30C. Sweden and Finland are also into the mid-high 20s Celsius. Rain affects western Norway and there is a risk of thunderstorms later in Denmark and southern Sweden.