Manchester is set for big thunderstorms this week: Here’s this week’s forecast
Torrential downpours, high winds, and hail showers are all being tipped to take place over the course of the next few days, with the Met Office issuing a Yellow weather warning for the whole region.
We’ve had some scorching sunshine over the past few days in Manchester. But now, we need to brace ourselves for a whole other kind of extreme weather: Thunderstorms.
Torrential downpours, high winds, and hail showers are all being tipped to take place over the course of the next few days, with the Met Office issuing a Yellow weather warning for the whole region.
Yellow warnings are often issued when the weather could potentially bring “severe impacts” to communities, but the “certainty of those impacts occurring is much lower” than with an Amber or Red alert.
Here’s what the Met Office is predicting so far.
Be sure to keep a close eye on their website as changes in forecasts could occur throughout the week.
The Met Office is saying that thunderstorms will begin brewing this afternoon from 4pm, with “a risk of hail, torrential downpours and frequent lightning.”
The current forecast for the region is “heavy showers with torrential downpours and a risk of thunder continuing through the evening.”
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Showers are expected to ease overnight.
Tuesday
Tuesday is set to be a “very hot day” according to the latest Met Office forecast, with temperatures reaching a scorching 29 degrees by the afternoon.
Thunder and showers are, however, predicted for evening – with the clouds set to open from 6pm.
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Storms may last – on and off – right through the night.
“A risk of thunderstorms with some heavy downpours possible,” is being forecast for Wednesday and Thursday, with the trickier weather being “interspersed with drier, sunnier spells.”
There could be rain on Wednesday morning during the morning commute form 7am – 10am, whilst the weather is expected to slowly improve throughout the subsequent 24 hours.
Accompanying the Yellow weather warning for the early part of this week, the Met Office comments: “There is a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded quickly, with damage to some buildings from floodwater, lightning strikes and large hail.”
The website also warns of potential delays and cancellations to public transport, with spray and sudden flooding creating difficult driving conditions and “increased chance of accidents.”
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It adds: “There is a slight chance that power cuts could occur and other services to some homes and businesses could be lost.
“There is a small chance of fast flowing or deep floodwater causing danger to life.”
News
Manchester band Westside Cowboy release ‘thrilling’ debut album that critics are calling one of the year’s best
Emily Sergeant
One of the UK’s best rising bands have released their debut album today to glowing reviews from critics and fans alike.
Jimmy Bradbury, Reuben Haycocks, Aoife Anson O’Connell, and Paddy Murphy – better known together as Westside Cowboy – formed back in 2023 when they were students at the Royal Northern College of Music, so while they may not all be from Manchester, they definitely have the spirit of our city at the heart of everything they do.
After playing in different bands across the city throughout their student years, the four-piece joined forces to create Westside Cowboy – an indie rock collective credited with self-coining the genre of ‘Britainicana’.
Put simply, Britainicana is a cultural concept that mixes the hazy, mythic feel of American country and folk, with the sound of raw British punk, indie rock, and small-town life.
Westside Cowboy have released their debut album, It Goes On / Credit: Clementine Schniedermann (Press Shots – Supplied)
If that sounds like your cup of tea, then you’ll be pleased to know that Westside Cowboy have released their debut album, It Goes On, to the world today (21 August).
And the reception from critics, arguably, couldn’t be better.
Prior to the release of their debut album, the band had released two EPs, including So Much Country ‘Till We Get There in January earlier this year, and had started to make a name for themselves with their popular debut single ‘I’ve Never Met Anyone I Thought I Could Really Love (Until I Met You)’ in 2024.
They went onto make even further waves when they supported equally-rising American rock band Geese on their UK and Irish tour back in March – with many fans calling it one of the best support and main act combinations in some time.
Three singles from their debut album were shared with the world ahead of its release – ‘Kick Stones (The Boys)’ came first, followed by ‘Pin Up Boys’ and ‘Dobro’.
So, it’s fair to say the anticipation for album was high… and if the reviews are anything to go by (which we think they are), it looks like the band has very much delivered what they set out to achieve.
Westside Cowboy’s debut album It Goes On is now available to stream, or you can purchase a physical copy in a range of formats from their website here.
Take a listen👇
Featured Image – Press Shot (Supplied)
News
UK set to be battered by storms as ‘unprecedented’ El Niño arrives this autumn
Emily Sergeant
The UK is being told to brace for a series of storms this autumn when the ‘unprecedented’ El Niño weather event arrives.
It’s already been a summer of extremes for the country, with multiple heatwaves over the past couple of months, but now it appears that autumn and winter are set to have some extremes of their own, as the Met Office is warning that this upcoming El Niño could be one of the most significant in recent memory.
El Niño is declared when sea temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific rise 0.5°C above the long-term average, which therefore impacts global rainfall patterns and average temperatures.
The natural warming of sea temperatures is forecast to reach more than 3°C in the coming months, according to the Met Office, making this year’s weather event have the potential to be ‘the largest since the 19th century’.
The UK is set to be battered by storms as ‘unprecedented’ El Niño arrives this autumn / Credit: Johannes Plenio (via Unsplash)
El Niño will create a heightened risk of drought in the tropics, southern Africa, and north eastern Australia, but over in north western Europe – including the UK – it means we are likely to experience wetter and stormier conditions.
The UK, and of course Greater Manchester, is absolutely no stranger to a storm around this time of year, but forecasters say this could be an entirely different beast.
“We should be clear that this is an unprecedented event,” warned Professor Adam Scaife, who is the Head of Long Range Forecasting at the Met Office.
“I have never seen an El Nino signal this intense in our forecasts.”
Professor Scaife concluded: “A typical El Nino leads to an equatorial Pacific sea-surface temperature rise of between one to 2°C, with 2°C being a really big event. This implies that, if the forecast is accurate, and other forecast systems show similar extreme values, then 2026 will far exceed our recent experience of El Niño and its worldwide climate influences.’
Forecasters and officials, however, have warned that it could take months of sustained rainfall before rivers, reservoirs, and groundwaters are ‘completely replenished’ – which is when a drought can officially be declared as over.
It also warned drought conditions could persist into the new year as, despite El Niño, as current forecasts do not suggest this autumn will have the amount of rainfall needed to drive recovery.
The Manc -
10th August 2020 
