Another blast of hot weather will see one of the warmest summers on UK record continue, with counties across central and southern England set for temperatures of above 30C. New weather maps from WXCharts show the mercury peaking at 31C across a stretch of the country from Northamptonshire to East Sussex on Tuesday, August 26. The upcoming hot spell, which follows a summer marked by four UK heatwaves, will predominantly impact regions in central and southern England, and is set to last for around 48 hours.
The warm weather will set in on the evening of Monday, August 25, when temperatures could reach 30C around Leicestershire, with the lower half of the UK turning red. Other parts of the country, including northern England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, are expected to hover just above 20C during the same period.
The mini-heatwave is set to usher in a warm and sunny end to one of the UK’s hottest summers on record, with Met Office data showing that the average temperature between June 1 and August 17 was 16.2C, around 1.6C above the seasonal average.
Met Office scientist Emily Carlisle said: “It’s looking like ths summer is on track to be one of the warmest, if not ‘the’ warmest, since the series began in 1884.
“What’s striking is the consistency of the warmth. June and July were both well above average and even outside of heatwaves, temperatures have remained on the warmer side.
“While we haven’t seen record-breaking highs – 35.8C is the peak so far this year – the overall trend in consistently above average temperatures is what matters.”
The Met Office’s long-range forecast from August 24 to September 2 also predits “widely fine and dry weather”, with “low pressure and frontal systems” expected to usher in more “changeable” conditions heading into next month.
The forecaster also warned of temperatures turning “warm or very warm” in late August, before “quickly trending towards average” at the start of September.