The Met Office has warned that parts of the UK could reach heatwave thresholds as the country prepares to swelter this weekend. The weather agency says that temperatures could exceed 30C this weekend, with many areas seeing heat in excess of 27C from Wednesday.
Matthew Lehnert is a Met Office chief meteorologist. He said: “An area of high pressure over southern England will build across a larger part of the UK through midweek. Ahead of this, wet and windy weather will affect the far northwest later today and into Tuesday morning. It will remain very warm across parts of the south and east.”
Tony Wisson, deputy chief meteorologist, added: “The rising temperatures this week are a combination of several factors. Over the next few days, settled weather and warm sunshine will allow temperatures to rise day on day.
“Temperatures will then rise further towards the end of the week as winds turn more southerly and even warmer air over continental Europe will be drawn across the UK.
“We could very well see several places exceeding 30ºC, which will be the highest temperatures of the year so far.”
The weather expert said that five areas of the country are set to see the hottest temperatures throughout Saturday as large parts of the UK hit the heatwave threshold.
Wisson added: “By the beginning of the weekend, we could very well be meeting heatwave thresholds in places.
“While the warmest temperatures are likely across London and the east of England, by Saturday heatwave thresholds could be reached across much of the Midlands, low-lying areas bordering the Peak District and even parts of east Wales.”
Weather data from WXCharts.com supports this, with maps turning deep red as temperatures soar above 30C on Saturday.
For those who are not excited about the prospect of scorching conditions, the agency set out how long it believes the temperatures will remain at heatwave levels.
The Met Office said: “High pressure is expected to move away from the UK into early next week, resulting in temperatures falling. However, there is uncertainty in how quickly this happens, and the peak temperatures experienced across the UK.”
Wisson continued: “Temperatures are likely to peak in the low 30s Celsius this weekend before easing sometime early week. Some forecast models even allow temperatures to rise into the mid-30s Celsius by Monday.
“While this is feasible, it is considered a lower-likelihood scenario.”