July weather set to hot up as temperatures soar

After a very unexciting June - which has been disappointingly cooler than average - July is looking to arrive in a blaze of heat.

Exceptionally hot air developing across the continent will send temperatures soaring across Iberia and France next week - the heat moving up to the UK just in time for Wimbledon. Highs of 32C are possible by the latter stages of the week - the last time we saw such a temperature was the 18th July last year.

In the words of the most experienced forecasters in the business:

"It's looking to be an intense heatwave in parts of the Continent - I've never seen such hot air so early in the summer."

It's possible it could be the most significant European heatwave since July 2006 - and likely to be particularly severe in France with the oppressive heat potentially bringing a risk of health issues.

Such intense heat usually develops in August. It was August 2003 when Europe had their highest temperatures ever recorded - with a heatwave which reached an uncomfortable 38C (100F) in the UK.