Mini-heatwave in the capital ‘to last all week’

LONDONERS were continuing to enjoy a mini-heatwave today, with the capital set to be hotter than Barcelona.

With temperatures expected to reach 27C — compared with 24C in Barcelona — forecasters predicted that the warm sunny weather would last until the end of the week, when a hurricane could be on its way to Britain.

Billy Payne, of forecasting service MeteoGroup, said: “London will be pleasant and warm with lots of sunshine. Today there could be highs of 27C locally. These are above-average temperatures for the end of August.

“Tomorrow will be warm still, at about 25C. The sunny conditions will continue until Friday at least, though temperatures will begin to slide down to about 23C. There might be some isolated showers.”

Experts said the warm conditions were due to a flow of hot air sweeping from the Continent and Africa.

James Madden, of Exacta Weather, said: “This will bring consistent temperatures in at least the mid 20Cs in parts of the south, and 30C or more isn’t out of the question in places.” Alex Burkill, of the Met Office, added: “We are seeing hotter weather coming in from the south to create the aboveaverage temperatures. Usually, at the end of August, we would see temperatures of about 21C in London.”

The hottest day of the year was recorded in Gravesend, Kent, l ast week, when temperatures reached 33.9C on August 24.

Robin Bilney, a spokesman for the Royal Parks, said he was expecting many visitors this week. He explained: “Our parks tend to be busiest when the weather is good… The Diana Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park and the boating lakes are particularly popular for people enjoying the sun.”

However, forecasters have warned that conditions at the weekend would be more unpredictable if Britain was hit by the tail end of Hurricane Gaston, which is building up across the Atlantic. The storm has been hitting the US east coast with 90mph winds, but its track is still uncertain.

Mr Burkill said a “front from the West” would see temperatures drop to about 22C by Friday.