Expected later on this week

Heat will then arrive from the south, passing over the continent, and by Wednesday temperatures could hit their highest so far this year.

Met office forecaster Alex Burkill said: “It does look likely it will be at least 33C at some point this week, most likely on Wednesday or Thursday, in the South East and East, London, Essex, Kent, East Anglia and into Lincolnshire – and that would make it the hottest day we have had so far.” The current run of fine weather looked set to continue and he added: “It always seems that when the schools break up that is when we get the bad weather, but in this instance that is not the case.”

He warned that high levels of humidity will make for hot and muggy nights, particularly in central and southeastern areas.

The record July temperature of 36.7C was at Heathrow on the first of the month in 2015. WARM AS COAST Sun-lovers splash in the sea at Bournemouth