UK weather: Hottest day of year expected over weekend as heatwave shows no sign of ending

Britain's heatwave could continue for the rest of July and beyond with this weekend potentially giving us the hottest day of the year so far, forecasters say.

The country has been sweltering in recent weeks in heat that has seen wildfires ravage parts of the country and crops suffer.

Today a bin lorry was seen sinking into the street in West Berkshire as blistering sunshine melted the tarmac, and this weekend is expected to offer no respite from the baking temperatures.

The highest recorded so far this year was 33C in Wales on June 28, but forecasters say this could well be matched over the next two days.

A Met Office spokesperson said: "It looks like on Saturday or Sunday there is a chance that we might see an isolated 33C temperature recorded somewhere in central or southern England, maybe even in London."

The spokesperson added that Britain is currently coming close to hitting the heights of the heatwave that gripped the country in 2013.

She said: "In 2013 we had 19 consecutive days of temperatures recorded somewhere in the UK at 28C or higher.

"At the moment we are on 13 consecutive days of these temperatures, and we are certainly expecting the warm weather to continue throughout July."

The spokesperson warned that some parts of the country might be expecting slightly less-glorious weather.

"There is a cold front coming through Scotland on the weekend, and while temperatures will cool down a bit for northern parts of the country, they will still be above average," she added.

"Warm temperatures are often accompanied by short showers, so we might see some bursts of rain and even some thunderstorms in the south over the weekend."

The Met Office today upgraded the UK's heat health alert to level three, which is one level below "national emergency".

Utilities companies have even warned of potential water shortages if the dry weather continues,with a hosepipe ban being introduced in Northern Ireland this week.