Get set for 86F as the summer sizzles back

AFTER days of rain and thunderstorms, a return of summer is just around the corner.

By the middle of next week, parts of the country will be basking in temperatures in the mid-80s, forecasters predict, making it as hot as Rome.

The prospect of a much-needed miniheatwave is sure to bring widespread cheer – particularly with foreign holidays still off the agenda for now.

It comes after days of massive thunderstorms which saw flashflooding across England and Wales, landslides and houses struck by lightning.

After a bright weekend with conditions feeling fresher than the recent humid weather – broken by another band of rain tonight – it is set to really start to warm up from Tuesday.

Thanks to hot air spreading northwards from Spain, where temperatures could top 40C (104F), central and eastern England are expected to reach 26C (79F) before rising further on Wednesday. Martin Young, from the Met Office, said: ‘We’ll see temperatures across much of England and Wales widely climbing into the mid to high 20s Celsius and it will probably be hot in parts of southern and eastern England, as temperatures peak close to 30C (86F).

‘It’s possible Northern Ireland and Scotland will join the rest of the country in seeing a spell of warmer weather, as this hot air from the continent extends northwards across the UK.’

This would see parts of the country hotter than Crete, Kefalonia and Marbella (all 26C or 79F) and level with Athens and Rome (both 30C or 86F). However, the warm Continental air could trigger severe thunderstorms and forecasters say the impending heatwave is unlikely to last into the following week.

But one bookmaker has responded by cutting its odds for the hottest July ever from 8/1 to 6/1. Chad Yeomans, from Betway, said: ‘Every year Brits hope that summer will transform the nation into Costa del Yorkshire or Cote d’Bristol.

‘We’ve already had the driest May on record, but could the weatherman give us another ray of sunshine?’