Britons are set to bask in the third heatwave of the summer later this week, forecasters have said.
Temperatures could rise into the low 30s towards the end of the week and the heat is forecast to remain at night, with “tropical nights” set to ruin sleep, the Met Office said.
It follows a weekend of cooler air, cloud and rain in most of England, and a yellow warning for thunderstorms in the east of the country on Sunday.
Marco Petagna, senior meteorologist at the Met Office, said temperatures are expected to climb steadily this week, with Wednesday likely to be the point when they “start to reach the thresholds of 25 to 28 degrees, depending on where you are.”
While these temperatures meet the criteria for a heatwave, Mr Petagna said: “you need three days at those temperatures for it to be able to be called a technical heatwave,” meaning an official heatwave is unlikely to be declared before Friday.
By the end of the week, he said, conditions will continue to heat up, with Friday and Saturday potentially seeing highs of “30 degrees, perhaps just nudging into the low 30s.”
He also warned that the weekend could bring rising humidity and warmer nights, making conditions “more uncomfortable by night.”
Yet the duration of the hot spell remains difficult to gauge, and there are uncertainties about just how high temperatures will rise.
It also appears as though the UK will avoid the stifling weather of the high 30s and low 40s seen in the Mediterranean.
Mr Petagna added it is uncertain how long the hot spell will last into next week, with forecast models offering mixed signals.
“It’s a bit of a question mark going through the weekend [and] early next week,” he said. Some models suggest the heat may ease off while others “keep the heat going”.
For now, it appears likely that the hot weather will persist into next weekend, particularly in southern parts of the UK, where temperatures “could again certainly get into the low 30s in a few spots.”
Mr Petagna also warned of “very high pollen and very high UV levels” over the coming days.
However, he noted the UK has so far avoided the extreme temperatures seen elsewhere in Europe, adding: “We’ve managed to escape some of the very highest temperatures… seen across Spain and Portugal… where it has reached the mid-40s.”
