Issued: 0530hrs Thursday 27th July 2017
Duty forecaster: Simon Keeling

Hot and sunny Mediterranean but showers and rain in central and northern Europe


Thursday
Another hot and dry day for Iberia and the western Mediterranean, reaching 40C in southern Spain and Portugal. Sunshine for Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. Scattered thunderstorms breaking out for the southern Balkans and mainland Greece , although the Greek Islands stay dry. A risk of severe thunderstorms breaking out for eastern Romania, perhaps also central Ukraine.
Fronts extend across central Europe, bringing further rain to Germany, spreading to Poland and the southern Baltic. Breezy but mainly dry for northern France and the Low Countries. Patchy rain for central France and the western Alps, but dry for eastern Austria also Hungary. Showers for southern Norway, and a few showers also in the far north. Very warm for Finland and northern Russia.

Friday
Spain and Portugal will have a fine day on Friday with good spells of sunshine. It is going to be staying dry and fine across Italy with more sunshine to come here and feeling very warm too. Greece and Turkey will be dry with lots of sunshine throughout the day with high temperatures.
Fair over much of France with plenty of warm sunshine. Showers affecting the Low Countries and northern Germany as well as Poland. Austria and Hungary as well as Switzerland will have sunny spells, although there will be a few thunderstorms developing over the hills and mountains in the afternoon.
Breezy with a mix of sunshine and showers in Denmark. Scattered showers in inland areas of the Baltic States and Finland. Sweden will have some broken cloud and sunny spells but also a few showers. Heavy showers or longer spells of rain in Norway.