Another bank holiday...and the sun WILL shine
THURSDAY looks set to be the hottest day of the year so far.
And the bank holiday weekend won’t be far behind, with the warm, sunny weather set to stay.
Temperatures are expected to hit 25C in the east of Wales and West Midlands on Thursday, topping this year’s previous high of 23C, the Met Office said.
However, forecasters poured cold water on claims that an “African plume” heatwave is heading our way.
There had been reports the country would see scorching temperatures before the end of the month.
For warm weather to be classed as a heatwave, it has to persist for at least three days and be much hotter than expected for the time of year.
A Met Office spokesman said that while the current temperatures are heating up, they are not outside the range usually expected for early summer. On Thursday, an onshore breeze will keep the South-East cooler, but dry. Bright weather is still expected across the area and most of the country for the rest of the week. Meanwhile, the majority of Scotland will see daytime highs of 18C, and even the Shetland Islands are expected to stay relatively warm, with temperatures peaking at a tepid 12C. A Met Office spokesman said that high pressure is likely to bring warm, sunny and settled conditions through to bank holiday Monday.
An area of high pressure to the west of the UK is driving the warm and sunny conditions, he said.
The highest temperature of the year so far was recorded on Sunday, with parts of North Wales seeing highs of 23C and most of England and Wales staying above 20C.