Exact date mercury to hit roasting 26C as Brits bask in 'Indian summer' (original) (raw)

UK weather: Exact date mercury could hit roasting 26C as Brits bask in 'Indian summer' mini-heatwave

The Met Office said Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, was the warmest place in the UK on Tuesday at 24.6C - and it's a sign of things to come with hot days expected for the rest of the week

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UK weather: Cloud and sunshine expected throughout the day

Brits will bask in glorious sunshine with temperatures as warm as 26C on Thursday, forecasters claimed.

The 26C high, expected across Greater London, will be warmer than Ibiza and Rome (both 23C/73F), Corfu (24C/75F), Majorca, and Istanbul (both 25C/77F). It would be the first time a temperature of 26C has been recorded anywhere in the UK in nearly a fortnight, since Aviemore in the Highlands hit 26.2C (79.1F) on September 7.

It's because an easterly wind is bringing in a band of high pressure, which Scandinavia has enjoyed in recent days. Finland, in particular, has seen particularly mild conditions all week.

"The settled weather should last for another day or so - it is going to turn more unsettled across more southern areas from Friday and into the weekend, however," The Met Office meteorologist Annie Shuttleworth said today.

People enjoy the warm weather in a green space in central London (

Image:

PA)

"But for the time being high pressure is dominating our weather. Still quite a lot of cloud around across many southern areas of the UK, the east coast in particular - that's because an area of high pressure is bringing an easterly wind. But we'll continue to see the influence of that high pressure through Wednesday and Thursday, particularly across more northern areas. A risk of showers starting to develop across the South by Friday."

Thursday's scorcher follows pleasant conditions at the start of this week. The hottest place in the UK on Tuesday was Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, where the mercury hit 24.6C. It hit 23C in both Magilligan, County Londonderry, and Chillingham, Northumberland.

The same areas are expected to remain warm on Thursday. Temperatures are likely to linger around the 20C mark for regions outside Southeast England, which will the hottest at near or around 26C.

Mist and fog should again quickly lift in the morning, leaving a mostly dry day which will be warm with plenty of sunshine but still breezy. By Friday, highs of 22C are expected in the south of England, 19C in the north of England and 17C in Scotland.