Issued: 0530hrs Thursday 9th August 2018
Duty forecaster: David Hulse

Still some hot weather but becoming cooler and fresher for many northern and western parts


Thursday
Much of Portugal and Spain dry but with thundery showers in the far north, drifting into the Balearics later. Sunny spells for Corsica, Sardinia and Italy showers starting to die out, whilst it will stay mostly dry over into the Adriatic and Croatia. Isolated showers in the north of Greece with thunderstorms for the north and east of Turkey, otherwise dry and sunny. Thunderstorms over Switzerland, extending into Austria but staying mostly dry with sunny spells towards central and southeastern parts of Europe.
A large area of heavy rain and thunderstorms over the north and west of France will move steadily northeast, on into the Low Countries and then Denmark, Southern Norway and Sweden later. Rain or showers further to the north and west at first in Scandinavia, dying out. Thunderstorms develop in the north and west of Germany and Poland but many parts stay dry with sunshine.
Still some high temperatures across Central Europe, Southern Spain into the Mediterranean, near to 30C, locally exceeding 35 in parts of Italy, and up to around a hot 40C for some southern parts of Turkey. Cooler and fresher generally further north and west, although Finland, Southern Sweden and the Baltic States will see temperatures into the high 20s.

Friday
Much of Portugal and Spain dry and sunny but with showers in the north and east and Balearics. Sunny spells for Corsica, Sardinia, Italy and the Adriatic but with a few showers, perhaps heavy in the north. Isolated showers for Greece with thunderstorms in the far northeast of Turkey, otherwise dry and sunny. Largely dry around Southeast Europe, towards the Balkan States but with thunderstorms again over Switzerland, extending into Austria and northeast into Poland.
Dry and fairly sunny across Central and Southern France but with showers, some heavy, further north and into the Low Countries. Heavy, locally thundery, rain associated with a deepening low continues to move steadily north across Norway, Sweden and Northern Finland with areas further to the south and east around the Baltic also likely to catch some showers. Much of Germany will become dry, though.
Little change temperature-wise across the south and east, peaks of 30C, locally exceeding 35C. Progressively cooler and fresher generally further north and west, although Finland, some southern parts of Sweden and the Baltic States will see temperatures well into the high 20s.