It’s going to be a much warmer weekend in the UK after this week’s -2C Arctic chill, according to weather forecasters, with higher temperatures set to stick around
Britain is set to enjoy the return of warm sunshine this weekend after days of chilly autumn weather.
Temperatures dived below freezing in multiple parts of the UK last night, with a blast of Arctic air ushering in a colder than usual conditions for mid-September. The village of Topcliffe in North Yorkshire recorded a biting -2.7C, while Eskdalemuir in central Scotland also saw the mercury plunge to -2.5C. Another somewhat chilly night is expected tonight, with temperatures in the low single figures in many areas, though forecasters are now tipping the rest of the weekend to see a dramatic turnaround in the weather.
Daytime highs of 20C are likely in the south on Saturday and Sunday and 17C in the far north, signalling a move towards more typical early autumn weather. Warmer conditions will also follow into next week thanks to a replacement of the Arctic air with a new high pressure front, reaching highs of 24C in some places. More settled conditions are also likely, say Met Office forecasters, though occasional showers are still possible in the north.
Jason Kelly, a Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “The cold Arctic air we have been experiencing will be replaced with warmer westerlies over the weekend. High pressure will bring fine weather to the south, but there is an area of low pressure to the northwest, which will push some weather fronts across Scotland and Northern Ireland, bringing rain and thicker cloud. It will also be windy across Northern Scotland, especially on Saturday.”
Other forecasters are even suggesting Brits should brace for “extreme heat” from next week, breaking into the “mid to high 30s”. James Madden from Exacta Weather wrote: “From around Monday and through to around Thursday or Friday of next week, we will then see this high pressure intensifying across our shores to produce some very hot to extreme heat for the UK and Ireland, and a pinnacle point of this particular heat surge and for the most extreme of temperatures can be expected to develop within this period, particularly for in and around the Monday to Wednesday period within my own projections. The lower end of the scale will see maximum temperatures in the low to mid 30s in the hottest spots of the south of the UK to begin with, whilst the higher end could see temperatures ranging in the mid to high 30s at the very least.”
