The Met Office has said high pressure over the UK bringing continued settled conditions, temperatures will continue to increase through the second half of the week and into the weekend.
Highs of 31°C are forecast on Thursday for central and southern parts of England. Elsewhere highs of 28°C are possible in Wales, 25°C in Northern Ireland and 25°C in south and southwest Scotland.
There will be some cloud and light drizzle in the far northwest of Scotland that will move away to the North through the day, otherwise the UK will see a fine and bright day. Thunderstorms could develop over Northern Ireland and the far southwest of England later into the evening, though these will be fairly isolated in nature.
Overnight temperatures into Friday will remain high, with some locations in southeast England, predominantly in and around London, seeing temperatures not dip below 18°C overnight.
Friday will be another warm day, with highs of 32°C possible in central England. High cloud will move into the southwest of England. Some isolated showers and thunderstorms could move into western parts of the UK and develop elsewhere in northern Scotland and northeast England by the afternoon. Further isolated thunderstorms will move into the far southwest overnight.
Deputy Chief Meteorologist, Dan Holley, said, “The highest temperatures from this hot spell are forecast for Saturday, with low 30s Celsius fairly widely across England, and up to 34°C possible in eastern areas. Despite this, the more uncomfortable heat will be in northern and western areas initially, where despite somewhat lower temperatures the air will be more humid.
“While Saturday will be a dry and fine day for many, a few showers or thunderstorms will be possible across northern and western parts of the UK, with an increasing risk of some intense thunderstorms developing across portions of north Wales, northern England and southern Scotland later in the afternoon and into the evening hours, which could bring heavy downpours, frequent lightning, gusty winds and possibly large hail.
“The nights will also be quite warm, with the possibility of temperatures not falling below 20°C in some areas, making it hard to sleep. This is what we term a ‘tropical night’.
“Temperatures will ease from the west on Sunday as fresher air arrives from the Atlantic, although parts of East Anglia and the far southeast of England could still see 28-29°C for a time.”
