Sizzling at 90F!

Britain gears up for hottest August bank holiday ever

HEAVY rain and thunder made life miserable during the first few weeks of August with flash floods and power cuts.

But Britons are now free to pack away their waterproofs and umbrellas as the country is set for a record-breaking bank holiday weekend – with scorching temperatures that could reach 33C (91F).

On Sunday and Monday, temperatures in the South could be as high as 32C (90F) or even 33C, the Met Office predicts – which would be on a par with the forecast for Honolulu, Hawaii. Further west and north, maximum figures of 27C (81F) are expected.

The current record temperature for the August bank holiday weekend is 31.5C (88.7F), recorded at Heathrow airport on August 25, 2001, while the record for the August bank holiday Monday is 28.2C (82.8F), at Holbeach, Lincolnshire, in 2017. Greg Dewhurst, of the Met Office, said: ‘Over the past few weeks, we have had the jet stream across the UK bringing low pressure area after low pressure area, keeping things cool.

‘But we’re going to see the jet stream move north, allowing the wind direction to change from westerly to southerly, so warm weather can flow north from the Continent. The warm and sunny conditions are set to extend across the UK and the signs are they will probably continue into the first part of next week.’

The hot sunshine comes after 94mm (3.7in) of rain fell across the UK between August 1 and 17 – about 5 per cent above the national average for the entire month. Some areas had much higher totals, with 251.2mm (9.9in) falling at Spadeadam, Cumbria.

Weeks earlier in July, Britain experienced its hottest ever day, with 38.7C (101.7F) recorded in Cambridge on July 25. July also broke global records as the warmest month ever recorded worldwide.

The Met Office is predicting largely warm and dry weather to continue in southern Britain for the rest of the month and into September, although there could be rain at times further north and west.

r.marsden@dailymail.co.uk