'Omega Block' to bring long summer heatwave after sizzling May record
The warm and dry weather may be coming to an end but it's not all doom and gloom for the months ahead.
The prolonged spell of dry, sunny weather is predicted to end in about a week, with the Met Office forecasting a shift towards cloudier skies and cooler temperatures.
Enjoy the sunshine while it lasts because, despite slight variations in the exact timing of the rain's return, the service is pretty confident that the warm weather is due to give way to more unsettled conditions by next weekend.
However, it's not all bad news, as weather experts predict that the record-breaking sunshine could continue for most of the summer due to a weather pattern known as an 'omega block'.
An Omega Block is most common in spring but can exceptionally persist for months around mid- summer.
"Omega blocks... [are] an area of high pressure [that] will be sandwiched in between two lows to the east and west, and also slightly to the south," the Met Office explained.
"These blocks frequently occur on the eastern edges of the Atlantic and eastern Pacific, and can lead to easterly flows to the UK.
"Usually, weather fronts (which bring rain) move from west to east across the UK, but sometimes they can stay where they are, or even go from east to west, and this is usually due to a 'block'...
"In terms of the weather you will get, this means that under the high pressure the weather will remain mainly dry and settled for a few days or perhaps weeks."
Met Éireann climatologist Paul Moore said that the recent warm spell is due to the 'Omega Block' weather pattern.
As described, this occurs when the North Atlantic jet stream weakens, typically after the Stratospheric Polar Vortex breaks down following a cold winter, reports BelfastLive.
While this breakdown usually happens in mid-April, it occurred earlier this year, around the second week of March.
And according to the Met Éireann specialist, "the influence of the breakdown of the Stratospheric Polar Vortex on the troposphere can last for two to three months."
Moore further explained that this leads to "high pressure [systems] to re-establish over and over again" and indicated that for this summer, it implies "June, July, and August, has a strong signal for higher than average temperatures... during the summer months".
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The Met Office's long-range forecast, covering Thursday to Saturday, states: "Thursday will most likely be dry with some sunshine and light winds across much of the UK. A few showers are possible, but the majority of places will remain dry. Temperatures during this period are expected to continue being above average for this time of year.
"Moving into the bank holiday weekend and the following week, a shift in weather patterns is anticipated. More unsettled conditions are likely to develop, with weather systems moving in from the Atlantic.
"This will bring periods of rain to many areas, potentially heavy at times, with a risk of strong winds in places. Drier and brighter intervals are expected between systems. Temperatures will probably be near normal or slightly above."
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