Flooding chaos forces schools to close as Met Office warns of big freeze. Somerset has closed dozens of schools and nearby roads were flooded.

The strike is likely to cause disruption across Britain for holidaymakers and those travelling to events including London’s Notting Hill Carnival, the Reading and Leeds music festivals and to sports events.

While some areas in England and Wales will experience spells of sunshine and mild temperatures throughout the week, the north will see heavy showers and brisk winds, according to the Met Office’s outlook.

Showers over England and Wales will gradually ease but a fresh weather front bringing rain will arrive in the south-west later, while it will be generally breezy around coastal areas.

Looking towards the rest of the month, an interactive weather model shows a large band of rain moving across the UK on September 28.

The August Bank Holiday will take place on Monday 29 August. It will be the last bank holiday of the summer and the next one will take place on Monday 26 December.

The Environment Agency issued flood warning around Haverhill. This happened after heavy downpour in Cambridgeshire on Auguts 25.

The Met Office specialists have urged people not to host barbecues in this dry and hot climatic conditions. This year the dry summer will remain for a longer phase as per their forecast.

England had its driest July since 1935, with parts having the least rainfall on record, the Met Office has said.

So far July 2022 has been the driest July in England since 1911. Up to 26 July there has been only 15.8mm of rain averaged across England; this is only 24% of the amount we would expect in an average July.