It is set to be a 'thundery' end to the country's fifth heatwave, which has brought 38C temperatures, more wildfires, deepening drought fears, and concerns for nurses collapsing on baking hot wards05:18, 14 Aug 2026Updated 07:40, 14 Aug 2026Thunderstorms are set to soak the UK as forecasters believe up to an inch of rain will fall.‌The latest Met Office forecast for today shows showers will cover large swathes of the country. Weather maps show 10 regions will get wet at some point.‌It is a ‘thundery’ end to the country’s fifth heatwave of the summer, and a huge contrast from just 24 hours earlier, when Brits saw the hottest day of the year with 38.1C recorded in Kew Gardens, London.‌Rain will be a welcome relief for some as most of England and Wales is in drought, and wildfires have raged across parts of the country in a record-breaking summer.The Met Office said: “Hot and sunny in the southeast. Increasingly humid for Wales and western/northern England with variable cloud and possible afternoon thunderstorms.‌“Fresher, albeit rather cloudy, conditions for Northern Ireland and Scotland after early heavy and thundery rain clears the east.”This evening’s forecast is: “Thunderstorms pushing eastwards overnight, with heavy downpours particularly possible over eastern England.“Warm and muggy in the southeast, but fresher than recent nights elsewhere. A few showers for northern Scotland.”‌Weather maps released overnight show a wet start for most of Scotland, where an inch of rain could fall in central parts of the country at 5am. By 8am, that band of rain moves out to the North Sea, but scattered showers are present across the country.It will be dry for the vast majority at lunchtime, although some rain will hit north Wales and Northern Ireland.‌There will also be some heavy isolated rain expected in northern England in early afternoon, around the Yorkshire Dales.Those clouds will move eastwards, bringing a lot of precipitation to the north east of England, East Yorkshire, and the East Midlands in the evening.As the evening progresses, those areas will see more heavy rain, while the south west and East Anglia will see lighter showers.Article continues belowUK regions facing rain on FridayScotlandNorthern IrelandWalesNorth West EnglandNorth East EnglandYorkshire and the HumberEast MidlandsWest MidlandsSouth West EnglandEast of England