UK To Be Warmer Than Hawaii As Heatwave Hits

The arrival of a 'Spanish plume' that will reach 30ºC is expected to hit the UK this week, with Friday, 17 June, expected to be the hottest day of the year so far.

Temperatures in London could reach 30ºC on Friday and Saturday. Up north, the thermometer will hit 25ºC in Manchester and 21ºC in Edinburgh.

However, it's not technically able to be declared a heatwave. The Met Office declares a heatwave as three successive days of temperatures above 28ºC. So while it's about to get hot, it's not officially on the heatwave scale.

Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said: "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."

Sadly it might be short lived, as forecasters have said to prepare for 'changeable conditions', with rain predicted for the end of June.

The warmer weather is thought to be caused by heat being pushed from the north African desert up into Europe, which is bringing sweltering temperatures to France and Spain.

Meteorologist Vautrey added: "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.

"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."

The temperatures are high and expected to be the hottest seen this year so far. However, it's not quite reaching the record breaking temperatures the UK has seen before. The highest June temperature ever recorded in the UK was 35.6ºC in Southampton in 1976, a year that saw a severe drought across the UK.