Summer starts here: UK set to bake in temperatures over 30C after Spanish heatwave

12 June 2022, 12:31

Parts of the UK could be baking in 30C heat by the end of the week.

London and the South East of England could push past the record temperature so far this year, which was 27.C at Heathrow on May 17.

Those parts will be caught up in a heatwave that's heading up from Africa via Spain, which has been sweltering in temperatures that are forecast to reach as high as 43C.

Those regions will see the hottest weather because of high pressure which is not extending across all of the UK, meaning northern areas will see cooler but more gradual increases in temperature.

Jonathan Vautrey, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said there is a "lot of sunshine around to help to keep things feeling pretty warm" in the south.

Read more: Gale force winds and heavy showers set to pummel UK as tropical Storm Alex remnants arrive

"If we take a look further north-west though it is quite a different story, so western areas of Scotland and Northern Ireland are much cloudier today and we are actually seeing some very unseasonably strong winds, so we have seen gales across north-west Scotland, the Highlands and the Outer Hebrides and places like that with rain coming through as well, so temperatures here are struggling a bit more," he added.

"It is the eastern side of Scotland that has sort of been pushing towards the high teens mark in terms of their temperature, just seeing a few more drier and and brighter spells."

Speaking in the wake of ex-tropical Storm Alex, which the Met Office had warned could see strong winds and showers, especially in Scotland and Northern Ireland, Mr Vautrey said: "We will sort of continue slightly with this north/west south/east split into next week as well, so we have high pressure building into the south which will allow things to stay relatively settled.

"At the moment, [it] doesn't properly extend its influence across the entirety of the UK and that's allowing low pressure and frontal systems to just fringe into north-west Scotland and Northern Ireland as well into the start of next week, so they can expect some spells of rain and showers at times.

Read more: 'Thunder fever' warning as remnants of tropical Storm Alex arrive ahead of summer heatwave

"As we move into the end of the week, that's when we are starting to pick up the signal for the potential for some significant heat to come up from the south."

There is still some certainty given the end of the week is still "a fair way off", he added, but he said "there is a signal in that the heat we have currently got over Spain - I believe they are experiencing rather high temperatures at the moment - could edge its way northwards to south-eastern areas of the UK, at least for the end of the week".

He went on: "So at the moment, the model wants to take us up to mid-20s by the middle of the week and then potentially into low 30s for Friday, which would be the warmest conditions we have seen over the course of this year so far."

Spain's heatwave saw a forecast high of 43C for Seville, Cordoba and Badajoz in the south, with the hottest areas due to be in the south west and centre of the country.

Madrid could reach 38C after a mass of hot air travelled up from Africa. That would be well above the capital's average for this time of year.