UK set to be hotter than Portugal and Jamaica this week as temperatures expected to hit 33C

Temperatures are set to soar as high as the mid-thirties this week, as meteorologists predict Brits could be in for a brief heatwave.

This week marks the first time temperatures could soar above 30C in 2022, with heatwave conditions in England, according to ITV Weather Forecaster Lucy Verasamy.

The UK can expect strong sunshine during the day, and warm, stuffy evenings and nights.

"Heat will be intensifying across western Europe and as high pressure repositions itself across the continent, the increasingly warm air will be drawn across the UK on a southerly airflow through the latter stages of the week," she said.

Temperatures will be near 30C across many areas of England and Wales briefly, with hottest spots across the south-east of England - here temperatures are likely to peak around 33C on Friday.

If the prediction is accurate, Britain will be hotter than Portugal, Jamaica, Costa Rica, and the Canary Islands. It would also mean the hottest day of the year so far, eclipsing the record of 27.5C (81.5F) set in mid-May at Heathrow.

Lucy Verasamy added: "It'll stay hot across the south and south-east on Saturday, before starting to feel more comfortable on Sunday as temperatures return to average values. 

"It'll be the hottest spell we've had this year - but June is no stranger to such heat with 34C in 2017 and 2019 - and the record stands at a stifling 36C from 1976."

Heatwaves – three consecutive days of high temperatures – are also possible between June and mid-September, according to the Met Office’s Steven Keates. “We think at the moment it will be warmer than average with an increasing likelihood of heatwaves,” he said. “There have been no heatwaves so far this year… the greater likelihood is that it’s going to be the further south, south-east, you are.”

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