// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Is another UK heatwave on the way in September?
While wet weather is forecast for many this week, some long-range forecasts are suggesting further dry and sunny spells in September.
Many of us have experienced the first bit of rain in around two months as the weather turned more unsettled on Tuesday.
This change in weather patterns will also bring lower temperatures through this week, perhaps falling to around 2 to 4C below the mid-August average.
The prospect of cooler weather has led to speculation about the possibility of another heatwave - the sixth of the year - developing in September.
It has been an exceptional summer so far with the Met Office saying it is likely to be the hottest on record.
Even with cooler conditions this week, the mean average temperature would need to be considerably below average for the last two weeks of August, to keep 2026 from surpassing the record set just last year.
The hotter-than-average summer with an increased likelihood of heat spikes and heatwaves was predicted by the Met Office and MeteoGroup - the BBC's weather data providers - back in June.
These seasonal forecasts looked at a range of weather patterns as well as predictions that human-induced climate change would bring a greater chance of hotter weather in the UK summer.
Water levels at the Llwyn-On reservoir in South Wales got so low during the hot, dry summer that they revealed an old stone bridge
Meteorological summer ends on 31 August. This is because meteorologists split the year into four even quarters, each made up of three months, for ease of record keeping and statistical analysis.