Barbecue autumn

After hottest summer for years, warm weather is forecast to last until October

IF YOU were hoping the barbecue summer would never end then you could be in luck.

Forecasts suggest temperatures could be higher than normal over the next couple of months, meaning al fresco cooking is still on the cards.

Meteorologists think the early part of this month will have a healthy smattering of days when thermometers reach the low 20s in the South and nudge up to 20C (68F) in the North.

While you can then usually expect the start of October to be a few degrees cooler, there could even be days next month when it reaches 20C in some areas.

Met Office forecaster Steven Keates said: ‘For the period of August through to October the models are looking slightly warmer and potentially dryer than average – which doesn’t preclude that we could see cooler weather and then be warm and sunny again. Should you put your barbecue away? Let’s not give up hope just yet.’ It comes as forecasters are set to announce whether this summer was the hottest ever.

Most of the country basked in a prolonged period of hot sunny weather in June and July as temperatures peaked at a scorching 35.3C (95.5F) in Faversham, Kent, on July 26.

The hottest spell was from June 24 when temperatures reached 28C (82.4F) or above somewhere in the UK for 16 consecutive days, just being beaten by the 18- day heatwave in 1976. But August then turned out to be much damper, and meteorologists are set to confirm this week whether records were still broken for the summer as a whole.

Provisional figures covering June, July and up to August 30 show the average highest daytime temperature for the UK was 15.8C (60.4F).

With just one day’s information missing, that was higher than the 15.78C (60.4F) of 2006 and the 15.77C (60.38F) in both 2003 and 1976. Specifically, England’s average was 17.2C (63F), beating the 1976 record of 17C (62.6F).

Yesterday saw parts of eastern England enjoying clear skies and temperatures of around 25C (77F), although western areas were fairly cloudy.

Rain was working its way down through Scotland overnight, bringing the prospect of showers in northern England and Wales this morning.

However, conditions over the next few days will generally be dry and warm, punctuated by chilly nights. More unsettled weather will affect most of the country towards the end of the week and into the weekend.