The summer weather of June has been a big talking point. High pressure was often influencing our weather and June 2018 was one of the UK's top five warmest Junes on record. Glasgow recorded 29.5C and 31.9C on 27-28 June. With the high pressure, it was often very sunny and provisional figures show it was the 4th sunniest in records dating back to 1929. Parts of southern England were incredibly dry with Essex and Dorset recording just 4% of the normal June rainfall. Similar weather patterns were experienced in Ireland, and Dublin Phoenix Park recorded the driest June since 1941. (You can find more weather data and information at https://www.metoffice.gov.uk & https://www.met.ie).

One unfortunate consequence of dry, hot sunny weather can be wildfires and the satellite imagery from 30 June shows wildfire smoke drifting over Lancashire and dispersing over the Irish Sea. Interestingly, the photo also shows algal blooms, notably in the North Sea (bright turquoise areas, east of Scotland) and sediment from previous river run-off, for example in the Bristol Channel (brown colouring).

The big question being asked is will the great summer weather last through July? (although I know lots of people find this weather too hot and the longer the dry weather lasts, the worry of drought comes, especially to farmers and gardeners).

The short answer is yes, notably for the first half of the month. Apart from isolated showers or thunderstorms, most places will stay dry and mainly sunny. The hottest weather is likely to peak on the weekend 7-8 July and also for the week commencing 9 July across parts of England and Wales. It looks like temperatures will exceed 30 Celsius in the London area for 4 consecutive days 6-9 July.

The high pressure may pull back for a while in the period 16-24 July, allowing low pressure to occasionally impact northern Scotland, and in general it may cool down a little (but still staying warmer than average in parts of Ireland, Wales and England). However, it looks like the high pressure will come back again for the last week of the month, bringing a return to very warm, sunny and mainly dry weather to most of the UK and Ireland.

So in summary, we predict a very warm, sunny and dry month for July 2018. We'll be back in a few weeks to look at the prospects for August's weather.

For more weather information you can follow our senior meteorologist, Simon Cardy on twitter weather_king.