Heavy downpours on Saturday and thunderstorms on Sunday could disrupt people’s travel plans as they head off on their summer holidays.

With most schools in England due to break up on Friday, millions of families are expected on the UK’s roads this weekend, the RAC said.

Major roads are likely to be jammed, while the Port of Dover has warned it could take up to two-and-a-half hours to pass through border checks.

UK to see month of rain in 48 hours, as firefighters ‘lose control’ of blaze near Athens – latest updates

Forecasters say hilly areas of northern England and Northern Ireland, as well as southern areas of Scotland and Wales, could see up to 80mm of rain from Saturday.

A typical month’s rainfall in July in the UK is 88mm.

See the weather forecast where you are

In Europe, after a slight dip in temperatures over the weekend, conditions are forecast to reach the late 30s and early 40s Celsius again next week.

“Saturday will be very wet and we could see some travel disruption,” said Met Office meteorologist Ellie Wilson.

“There’s going to be quite a lot of rain around – it’s something we’re keeping an eye on.”

Sunday will be “turning more showery (with) a risk of thunderstorms in places”, she said.

“The start of next week will see the same continuation of showers and a risk of thunderstorms, reaching the low 20s in the South and East,” Ms Wilson added.

Image:
Smoke rises from a wildfire west of Athens

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In Greece, evening winds fuelled a major wildfire west of Athens on Thursday, triggering a series of evacuations.

Stifling heat across Europe’s Mediterranean south has created a high or very high risk of fires in Spain, Italy and Greece.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the authorities would remain on alert as a new heatwave moves east across the country.

A state of emergency was declared on Thursday on the Greek island of Rhodes, where evacuation orders were issued for several mountain areas.