117F Spanish heatwave is on way here
Four girls cool off from the blistering heat with a dip in a Seville fountain
BRITAIN is about get a blistering blast of heat from Spain which is currently in the grip of a record 117F (47.3C) heatwave.
The heat on the Continent was so extreme it killed one 54 year-old road-worker in Seville from heatstroke.
With the scorching air moving towards Britain the mercury is expected to rocket over the coming days before a wave of thunderstorms next week.
Stifling conditions will hold out until Wednesday before torrential downpours bring a fresher weekend.
The mercury may reach 87.8F in hotspots in the South with the high 70Fs forecast elsewhere.
Forecasters warn that rather than blue skies and sunshine Britain will sweat it out in very warm and humid conditions.
The sudden change in the weather will be driven by a Spanish plume of heated and humid air about to sweep up from the Continent.
Met Office spokeswoman Nicola Maxey said: “Continental air will come up from the South over the next few days and it is going to turn warmer.
“There will be some drizzle around over the weekend but we could reach 82.4F quite widely on Sunday.
“The heat continues into Monday and we could see 87.8F in the South on Tuesday and Wednesday with 80.6F likely in Scotland and the North.
“We expect a thundery breakdown on Tuesday night and into Wednesday, and it will start to turn fresher later in the week.
“At the moment the exact timings of the thunder are uncertain.”
Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said red hot air from Spain will cool as it drifts towards the UK.
Next week bears many of the hallmarks of a Spanish plume – a sudden burst of hot weather followed by thunderstorms, he added.
He said: “Warm air will come up from Spain where there have been some very high temperatures over the past few days.
“However it will be modified as it passes over sea waters and land and so will have cooled considerably by the time it reaches the UK.
“The other thing to note is that the extreme temperatures in Spain are also due to the ambient sunshine over the country, as the airmass moves towards the UK it will lose this and we will not get anything nearly as warm.”