UK heatwave: Met Office forecasts 30C over the weekend as hot weather returns

Daytime showers are expected to bring brief relief to Britons as warm weather is set to return to the UK.

The Met Office forecast shows showers will return on Friday, which will clear during the evening for some regions.

According to the forecaster, any mist and fog clearing will leave a dry day for many with hazy sunshine. There will be more clouds across Northern Ireland, Scotland and northern England that will bring outbreaks of rain.

The Met Office predicted Friday night to be cloudy with rain continuing to affect northwestern regions.

“Dry elsewhere with some clear spells. A warm night for most,” it said.

The weather is expected to get progressively hotter with a mixture of sunny spells and patchy clouds throughout Saturday.

Temperatures are expected to be close to 29C in parts of the south and west and will continue to rise in the next few days, with a prediction that there could be an increase above 30C levels on Saturday.

The warmest temperatures will be seen in South and Southeast with London and Norwich experiencing close to 28C while minimum temperatures will also rise to 17C in parts.

“The weekend could get up to the high 20s or low 30s, the south east will see warmer weather,” Met Office spokesman Stephen Dixon said.

“The week will be sitting relatively warmer for this time of year but more subdued than we’ve seen, but areas will hit heatwave criteria as we get to the weekend.”

Last week, large parts of England and Wales baked in a 30C heatwave that led to health alerts and left taps to run dry in schools.

This June is already seeing average temperatures above record levels as maps show the weather throughout this summer is expected to remain higher than average. It isn’t clear yet whether last year’s extreme heat records will be broken.

The temperatures have been globally shattering records this year fuelled by increasing global heating with early heatwaves in Asia, the Mediterranean and a record wildfire season in Canada that blanketed New York in hazy grey smoke.

Currently, a “heat-dome” near Mexico is pushing temperatures above 50C, as the country suffers one of its worst heatwaves on record for the last few days. It is also sending some warm air towards the northern Atlantic, playing role of warming up the region.

Meanwhile, a “severe” marine heatwave has developed off the coast of the UK, smashing records for late spring and early summer and posing a serious threat to the fish and the coastal ecosystem.