Heatwave 'likely' to hit UK next week with highs of 30C forecast

A heatwave is expected to grip parts of the UK next week with temperatures topping 30C.

High pressure will dominate throughout this weekend and into the week, bringing balmy conditions for many just days after the meteorological summer drew a close.

And parts of England and Wales could even see the highest temperature since 7 July, if predicted highs are met.

It will likely give Britons a final chance to rush to beaches and dust down their BBQs after the mixed conditions through much of July and August.

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But Sky News weather producer Joanna Robinson warned a “thundery breakdown” could bring a stormy conclusion to the week.

She said: “We’re now into the meteorological autumn, but it’ll be more like summer next week, typically as the majority of schools return.

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“High pressure will dominate the weather this weekend and into next week, with a southerly flow developing, allowing temperatures to rise.

“It will become very warm, even hot in places.”

Southern parts can expect the highest temperatures, perhaps reaching 30C around the middle of the week, Ms Robinson said, which would be the warmest temperature recorded since early July when 30.2C was felt in Chertsey.

Temperatures further north are expected “to peak in the mid to high twenties”.

Ms Robinson said: “It will also be warm at night.

“Heatwave criteria is likely to be met in places, but a thundery breakdown is forecast for the end of the week.”

An official heatwave is “when a location records a period of at least three consecutive days with daily maximum temperatures meeting or exceeding the heatwave temperature threshold”, according to the Met Office. This threshold varies by each UK county.

It comes as the Met Office said this summer, dominated by warm and wet conditions, was provisionally Britain’s eighth-warmest summer since 1884.

This was mainly attributed to record-breaking temperatures in June.

But the Met Office noted it was a summer of mixed conditions, with it also being wetter than on average.

The average mean temperature for the UK during the season was 15.4C, around 0.8C warmer than average, though July and August’s respective average temperatures were generally closer to average, they said.

Met Office senior scientist Mike Kendon said: “The lion’s share of fine and settled weather in summer 2023 for the UK occurred in June, when high pressure was widely established, bringing many dry days of warm summer sunshine.

“After that, however, the jet stream shifted much further to the south, with low pressure systems often bringing rather wet and windy conditions to the UK through much of July and August.”

The season’s temperature figures “are influenced by how significantly hot June was”, but the result is that summer 2023 will go down as a warm and wet one for the UK, with plenty of rainfall in the second half of the season, Mr Kendon noted.

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