Europe: Late July/Early August Weather Pattern

A seasonable weather pattern throughout much of Europe for the end of July and early August. High and low pressure systems should move with ease across the continent, except for portions of southwestern Europe where an upper-level ridge is stubborn to move out.
Southern Europe:
The hottest weather stays confined to Portugal and Spain where a current heatwave is bringing temperatures up to 40C - 43C (104F - 109F). This ridge of high pressure is anchored in place and will likely stick around for the next 10 days at least, into early August. This means continued extreme heat for the time being.
This ridge expands a bit next week, so the tail end of July sees temperatures once again reach up to 38C (100F) across much of Italy and also portions of southern France.
The Balkans are cool right now, but this area also reaches back up to as high as 35C (95F) for a couple days next week. Not as hot as the heatwave from last week.
Rainfall remains sparse across southern Europe.
Northern Europe:
Like much of this summer, the next 2 weeks will be about the same. Seasonable temperatures with a couple hot days here and there. Otherwise, temperatures struggle to even reach 30C (86F) across northern Europe. Perhaps for a day or two next week as far north as northern France and Poland. No sign of extreme heat across northern Europe over the next 2 weeks.
Rainfall also seems near normal, no sign of major flooding anywhere and also no sign of a looming drought.
Thanks for watching.

[@niklashagstrom]

Can you see any pattern in the weather to why it's so much rain and cold temperatures in the nordic area this summer?
Thanks for your report:)

[@SupercellCeleste]

The past several months have been dominated by a lot of troughing across the Nordics. This brings constant rain chances and cooler weather. Thanks 👍