Hottest day of the year so far expected this weekend

For the past week, most of us have been bathed with sunshine and warmth, in what has been the longest spell of proper summer weather the UK has seen since July 2006.

With the jet stream sitting well to the north of us, low pressure, wind and rain is being steered towards Iceland, leaving us with blue skies and sizzling temperatures.

High pressure sitting right over us has meant that there’s generally been little in the way of cloud, and drops of rainfall a rarity – largely confined to the far north of Scotland.

Northern Ireland has been the hottest place so far in the UK this year, with 29.9C recorded at Edenfel, County Tyrone on Monday 8 July. This is just 0.9C short of the highest ever temperature recorded for Northern Ireland, which stands at 30.8C.

That, however, is very likely to change this weekend, as temperatures soar across south eastern parts of England on Saturday.

There’s a good chance that 31C will be reached in London to start the weekend, with a small chance that somewhere just south of London, probably Surrey, Kent or Sussex, will reach 32C.

Although some places will get hotter this weekend, northern parts of the UK will turn cooler and fresher. Also, while most places will be dry, there is a chance of some scattered thunderstorms.

This weekend – England and Wales

It’ll be dry and hot with sunshine for most places, although there will be a few exceptions.

North sea coastal areas may be cooler with mist and low cloud with a breeze off the water.

Also, there’ll be a few thunderstorms breaking out in the afternoons – mainly across eastern parts of England. The chance of any one place getting one is low, but if you do catch one, it’ll be a big one.

Temperatures will be in the range of 23-31C on Saturday, coming down a little to 21-29C on Sunday.

With such high temperatures expected, the Met Office has issued heatwave alerts for southern and eastern parts of England, highlighting the dangers of the heat, especially for the very young, very old or those with chronic diseases.

This weekend – Scotland and Northern Ireland

There’ll be a change to cooler and fresher weather this weekend for these areas, with temperatures in the range of 18-23C, rather than the mid to high 20s that have been seen in recent days.

In addition, there will tend to be greater amounts of cloud with some showers, but by no means a washout. For much of the time it will be dry with a mixture of clouds and sunshine.

Rest of July

Having looked at the general trend for the rest of the month, there seems to be a consistently strong signal for high pressure to remain close to or over the UK.

This means that there is a good chance that the generally fine and warm weather will continue.

The best of the dry, sunny and hot weather will be across England and Wales, with Scotland and Northern Ireland more prone to cloudier, cooler and wetter interludes.

As ever, you can get the weather for your location on the Channel 4 Weather website, including UV and pollen levels which are looking high for most places this weekend.

If you manage to take any weather pictures then I’d love to see them. The easiest way to get them to me is on Twitter – @liamdutton