UK weather: Country set to have new heatwave - with temperatures over 30C in some areas, Met Office forecasts

Sky News

3 days ago

Temperatures are expected to rise steadily throughout the week as the third heatwave of the summer is forecast for the UK - potentially hitting the low 30s Celsius in some areas.
Forecasters say central parts of the UK could see highs between 26C and 28C (78.8F and 82.4F) from Wednesday, with the far north and west also experiencing hot temperatures - reaching the high 20s or low 30s by the end of the week.
The rising temperatures come as the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issued a yellow heat health alert for southern England.
The alert is in effect from 10am Wednesday until 10am next Tuesday and covers regions including London, the East and West Midlands, East Anglia, the South East, and the South West.
A Met Office spokesperson said the entire country was in for a noticeable midweek rise in temperatures, with many areas enjoying dry, sunny weather.
"While the North West may remain unsettled, elsewhere it will feel increasingly warm, even hot in places, particularly across southern and eastern regions," they said.
Wednesday is forecast to be mostly dry with sunny spells, although patchy rain and drizzle may linger in northwest Scotland and northern parts of Northern Ireland.
Temperatures are expected to climb significantly compared to Tuesday, with much of England and eastern Wales reaching 24C to 26C. The South West could see the highest temperatures, with peaks around 28C.
Eastern Scotland and Northern Ireland will also warm up, though lingering cloud cover may limit the daytime heat there.
Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern said: "We'll see sunny skies in the south and east early on Wednesday, but much of the UK will start cloudy. By the afternoon, most areas will be dry, and temperatures will continue rising through the week. Even the north will feel warmer as cloud cover breaks and weather fronts move further away."
By Thursday and Friday, temperatures are expected to stabilise across eastern Wales and much of central, southern, and eastern England.
The North and West may experience the most dramatic warmth compared to seasonal averages.
"It's not actually the South East where we'll see the highest temperatures," McGivern said.
"The biggest anomalies relative to the norm will be in the far north and west of the UK, where highs in the upper 20s to low 30s are likely. So yes, many places will feel increasingly warm, even hot, heading into the weekend."
This comes after the UK recorded its hottest day of the year on 1 July, when temperatures hit 34.7C in London's St James's Park.
Provisional data from the Met Office revealed June was England's warmest on record. Experts have said previous "extreme heat events" have been the result of climate change.
Met Office climate scientist Dr Amy Doherty recently said: "While we've not conducted formal climate attribution studies into June 2025's two heatwaves, past studies have shown it is virtually certain that human influence has increased the occurrence and intensity of extreme heat events such as this.
"Numerous climate attribution studies have shown that human influence increased the chance that specific extreme heat events would occur, such as the summer of 2018 and July 2022."
An official heatwave is declared when a location records a specific threshold temperature for three consecutive days-typically between 25C and 28C, depending on the region.