Summer is finally here: Brits to enjoy 30C this weekend, as warm weather set to last weeks

15 August 2023, 09:38 | Updated: 15 August 2023, 09:59

The UK is set to be bathed in glorious sunshine this weekend, after six weeks largely filled with grey skies and rain.

Temperatures could reach 30C this weekend, and the warm weather is set to continue over the next two weeks, a forecaster said.

Jim Dale of British Weather Services said: "Temperatures will rise later this week as hot air arrives from Northern Africa, through the Continent, Spain and France, and to the UK, and we could see 30C or up to 32C during this period of warm weather.

"Over the next fortnight, we will get spikes of heat which will bring further periods of warm to very hot weather."

Hot air masses from Africa are set to move towards Europe, including the UK.

Meteorologists at the Met Office largely agreed.

Read more: Met Office passes verdict on whether UK will get August bank holiday heatwave

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Forecaster Greg Dewhurst said: "An area of low pressure to the west of the UK and the Atlantic slowly starts to move towards us.

"What that allows to happen is for the winds to turn southerly, and we start to import some higher temperatures from the near continent.

"So, staying into Friday, we’re likely to see those temperatures rising, potentially getting towards the high 20s and then possibly by Friday and into the weekend, depending on cloud and shower distribution, we could locally see temperatures around 30 degrees by by the weekend.

"There will be frequent battles between the Atlantic and weather systems from the south, and this is what we expect this week, with low pressure to the west and high pressure to the northeast."

This week is also set to be dry for much of England, although Scotland will see some rain.

Met Office Chief Meteorologist Matthew Lehnert said: "Parts of Scotland will continue to see frequent showers, with around 30mm of rain possible over a few hours for Glasgow and Edinburgh.

"Elsewhere will be largely dry with cloud and sunny spells for many."