Sheffield cools after heatwave as showers threaten this week

Sheffield is set to cool back into the low 20s Celsius after the late-June heatwave, with the Met Office forecasting 23C on Sunday and 22C on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Rain chances rise from Tuesday, turning the break from extreme heat into a changeable spell rather than a settled return to summer warmth.

Across the UK, the outlook is similarly unsettled. Scattered showers are expected on Tuesday, thunderstorms are possible in the north, and later in the week sunny spells are likely to be interrupted by showery outbreaks of rain. The hot spell is being replaced by cooler air moving in from the west, but that shift is also bringing a higher thunderstorm risk rather than a prolonged period of calm weather.

The cooling follows a severe heat episode that prompted a red heat-health alert from the UK Health Security Agency and the Met Office. The alert system runs from 1 June to 30 September each year, with extraordinary alerts possible outside that season, and the red level has been used only twice since the system began in 2004, first in July 2022. It warns of a risk to life even for healthy people and the potential for disruption to transport, food, water, energy and business services.

Sheffield had already seen the heat push local records. The Sheffield Star said Weston Park weather station reached 32C on 23 June and 32.1C on 24 June, setting a new June record for the city. The Sheffield Press said temperatures neared 39C across six English regions and put Sheffield in a red-warning zone that could see 38C to 40C. Weston Park weather station, established in 1882, is one of the world’s longest-running weather stations.

The regional outlook suggests the relief may not last long. The Met Office’s Yorkshire and Humber forecast still points to highs remaining in the low 20s into early July, leaving the region exposed to another quick swing if hotter air rebuilds. The broader weather pattern is likely to keep household planning, travel and outdoor work on a stop-start footing: cooler days, then showers, then the possibility of heat returning just as quickly.