UK weather: Hottest day of the year forecast after Storm Noa wreaked havoc with 96mph winds

As the tumultuous Storm Noa begins to clear across the UK, temperatures look set to soar to the hottest of the year so far.

This weekend, much of the UK will return to the warm conditions enjoyed over much of the extended Easter weekend, with highs of 14C London expected on Saturday afternoon. Sunday looks even more promising, with the Met Office predicting temperatures of 16C in the south east.

And temperatures are set to continue to rise throughout next week, as conditions become sunnier and warmer for many.

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Between Friday 21 April and Sunday 23, temperatures could soar to highs of 19C in London, with areas of the north reaching a sunny 18C. Though accompanied by light rain and a gentle breeze at the beginning of the weekend, these highs would mark the hottest days of 2023 thus far if predictions were met.

Santon Downham, Suffolk, reached the highest temperature so far this year on 30 March with a reading of 17.8C.

The Met Office further advises that, between Tuesday 18 April and Thursday 27 April, much of the UK is to experience fine, dry conditions amidst high pressure. Temperatures are set to be “above average” for this time of year, welcoming in a “rather warm” spat.

The forecast is a welcome change from the havoc wreaked by Storm Noa this week. As hundreds of properties across the UK were left without power, fallen trees and tumultuous winds reaching heights of up to 96 miles per hour disrupted travel across southern England and Wales.

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At 8:15 on Thursday morning, Sussex Police located a body following a search operation in the area surrounding Brighton Palace Pier amidst the storm. The search and rescue effort had been launched on Wednesday afternoon following reports of a person in the sea.

Sussex Police had previously located a woman’s body in the sea close to Brighton Beach, recovered shortly after 4pm on Tuesday.

In Fareham, Hampshire, a woman was injured as scaffolding fell onto a bustling shopping street, whilst at Blackpool’s Pleasure Beach, visitors had to be escorted down from the Big One rollercoaster amidst the adverse weather.

Today’s showers will largely fade away this evening leaving many areas dry with clear spells. Showery rain will, however, persist over parts of Scotland and wet weather will develop over parts of Wales and southern England during the early hours.

Sunny spells and heavy showers with hail and thunder in places. Cloudier with more persistent rain in the far south at first and over southern, eastern and central England later.

Mainly dry on Saturday, with the odd shower in the east. Some light rain in the west on Sunday, but becoming sunny for many and becoming warmer.