RECORD BAKING SUMMER

Temp to hit 33C in sizzling three-month spell

BRITAIN is set for its hottest summer for at least 12 years.

Sunseekers will be treated to record-breaking roasts – at up to 33C (91F).

We’ll be able to bask while enjoying World Cup BBQ parties and Wimbledon following the Met Office forecast of a sizzling three months ahead.

Experts reckon higher than normal temperatures from June through to August are eight times more likely than cooler conditions.

Met Office optimism was backed up by The Weather Company, the world’s biggest commercial forecaster, which has predicted a high of 33C.

If thermometers register above the 14.3C summer average in the next three months, this year will put 2006 – the hottest summer for a century – in the shade.

That year a record-breaking temperature of 36.5C (98F) was recorded on July 19, at Wisley, Surrey.

Bookies have already responded to the forecasts of soaring temperatures.

Coral has cut the odds on this month being the hottest June on record to 6/4 from 2/1.

It is odds-on, at 4/6, for over 30C to be recorded in the UK this month and 4/1 for the hottest-ever June day (currently 35.6C).

“We had a sweltering start to the month and, with forecasts predicting we’re going to have a hot end to the month, there’s now every chance this June could take a place in the record books,” said Coral’s Harry Aitkenhead.

The firm currently makes it 2/1 for 2018 to be the hottest year on record. “We always see a rush of punters looking to back each year to be the hottest, coldest or wettest on record but this year the theme certainly seems to be the former.

“There’s a real feeling that we could go on to have a very warm year,” added Mr Aitkenhead.

But a sizzling summer this year will also bring dangers.

The Met Office is warning emergency services, transport leaders, business chiefs and councils of the risks of a hotter-than-normal spell ahead.

In recent years Britain has faced a number of poor summers.

Last year, rain ruined the school holidays while in 2014 Hurricane Bertha brought downpours. And the wettest summer for 100 years was in 2012.

The Met Office said: “For JuneAugust, above-average temperatures are more likely than below-average temperatures.

“The probability the UK average temperature for June-August will fall into the warmest of our five categories is 40%.

“The likelihood of above-average temperatures is greater than usual. The Met Office long-range prediction system shows a slightly increased chance of high-pressure patterns across the UK.”

The Weather Outlook forecaster Brian Gaze said: “The warmest summer since 2006 is a possibility, after recent years saw a series of disappointing summers. June to August only needs to be 1C above average for it to happen.”

Leon Brown, the head of meteorological operations at The Weather Channel, owned by The Weather Company, said: “33C is expected by early July.”