Mini-heatwave will see Britain hotter than Ibiza
THE warnings seem to have been multiplying all week that our weather is about to turn hot but nasty.
A weather system moving in overnight from the South West will bring a decent dousing of rain to the whole of the country today. In the South and South East, it should displace the humidity that has been blowing in from the continent with fresher air, but there is also a risk of thunderstorms. Between the downpours, though, temperatures will remain high, with 68F (20C) in London, 64F (18C) in Norwich and 59F (15C) in Glasgow and Belfast.
As the week progresses, the mercury will continue to rise. While low pressure out in the Atlantic will bring breezy and wet conditions to some northern and western parts, for most, the return of dominant high pressure will see us drawing up warm air from the south. The mini-heatwave should see 77F (25C) in the South East, hotter than Ibiza.
While it will cool a little by the weekend, with the wind direction switching to the north, the mediumterm forecast is for a hot, dry May. And those dry conditions are causing all sorts of concerns, coming on top of our driest winter for 20 years.
Walkers have been told to stay away from cliff edges for fear the lack of rain will cause more landslips like the one that this week saw a 66ft (20m) section at Barton-on-Sea, in Hants, subside into the sea. And in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, there is a new campaign to encourage visitors to take extra care with cigarettes and naked flames when fields and woods are tinderbox dry. Farmers, in particular, fear a drought. At Seathwaite in Cumbria, traditionally the wettest inhabited place in the country, there is hardly a drop of water to be had.
And the bookies, not always a reliable bellwether, have cut the odds on a summer hosepipe ban to 2-1.