Temperatures set to next week as forecasters have say on heatwave

The UK will face a significant heatwave next week as forecasters predict temperatures could soar to 30°C, potentially making parts of the country hotter than Los Angeles.

The Met Office says the increase in high pressure across the UK will bring hot and humid conditions. Temperatures are expected to rise above seasonal average by Friday, reaching the high 20s or possibly 30C.

This follows a hot weekend with Kent reaching 22.4°C and London’s Kew Gardens reaching 21.3°C on Saturday. Sunday is expected to be fine and dry across much of the UK; In Scotland, however, there are only a few showers.

In southwest England top temperatures can be 26C or an isolated 27C. After a rainy Saturday, the temperature in Wales is expected to reach 23 degrees, while the temperature in Scotland will reach 20 degrees.

Thunderstorms are possible in parts of the country on Monday, but temperatures are expected to remain in the low 20s before clouds and rain spread from the west on Tuesday.

But forecasters say temperatures will rise from midweek as warm air moves from Europe towards the UK.

Temperatures could reach around 27 degrees in southeast England on Wednesday, while temperatures are expected to rise on Thursday, Friday and next weekend.

While cloud cover could affect top temperatures, forecasters say there’s a chance of 30C being recorded by the end of the week.

Met Office forecaster Kathryn Chalk said: “We are definitely seeing a warming trend from midweek onwards.”

He added: “Relatively warm and humid nights are also on the agenda; not what we expected a few weeks ago because the wall-to-wall sunlight won’t be the case, we’ve had a stronger signal compared to that, but it will still get warmer.”