Weather maps show the parts of the country where mercury will hit at least 20C over the next couple of days as we are set for the hottest temperature of the year so far at 24C
Brits are set for a balmy end to the working week with temperatures hitting 24C and the mercury rising above 20C in 42 counties.
A high pressure has been sitting over the UK this week bringing plenty of sunshine and blue skies for much of the country. Weather maps from WXCharts show the UK turning red and the country is set to be warmer than the Algarve in Portugal.
While it is expected to warm in most areas of the UK, the hottest temperatures will be in the lower half of the UK where the mercury will hit at least 20C. This is on the back of the warmest temperature on Thursday coming in Farnham, Surrey, at 21C.
Maps shows the 42 counties which will see the mini heatwave over the next couple of days with the temperature in the 20Cs. By the second half of the weekend the weather is expected to remain settled and there will be plenty of sunshine but the temperature will have started to dip.
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Counties were temperature will hit 20C
- Devon
- Dorset
- Hampshire
- Sussex
- Surrey
- Essex
- Middlesex
- Hertfordshire
- Buckinghamshire
- Oxfordshire
- Berkshire
- Wiltshire
- Gloucestershire
- Bedfordshire
- Cambridgeshire
- Huntingdonshire
- Northamptonshire
- Rutland
- Warwickshire
- Worcestershire
- Herefordshire
- Monmouthshire
- Glamorgan
- Brecknockshire
- Radnorshire
- Shropshire
- Leicestershire
- Carmarthenshire
- Pembrokeshire
- Cardiganshire
- Montgomeryshire
- Merioneth
- Denbighshire
- Flintshire
- Caernarfonshire
- Anglesey
- Cheshire
- Derbyshire
- Nottinghamshire
- Lincolnshire
- Lancashire
- Yorkshire
BBC weather forecaster Chris Fawkes said: “We’ve got off to a very sunny start to the month already and there is loads more of that sunshine to come. The high pressure responsible probably hanging around pretty much until the middle part of the month so a lot more of the sun to look forward to.”
So far the hottest day was March 20 where the mercury rose to 21.3C in Chertsey, Surrey and Northolt, London, with the Met Office saying that last month was the sunniest since records began in 1910.
And Mr Fawkes believes that we will get the hottest day of the year today with possibly 24C. ” It is going to be the warmest day we have seen so far this year,” he said. “The mark to beat is 21.3C, but I think that we will probably get to 23C, maybe 24C across parts of southern England as we go through Friday afternoon. There will be plenty of sunshine around.”
And Met Office forecaster Tom Morgan agrees we could see the warmest day of the year on Friday. He said: “By the end of the morning it should generally be dry across many places and it is a lovely day on offer once again for the vast majority, lots of spring sunshine.
“A bit more in the way of patchy low cloud developing perhaps across northeastern parts of Scotland, a bit of haar coming off the coast and even maybe northeastern parts of England through the afternoon as well.
“But otherwise lots of sunshine and that sunshine really lifting temperatures so another warm day to come, particularly for western areas out of that easterly breeze, temperatures as high as 23C so perhaps the warmest day of the year so far.”
The warmest weather on Friday is expected to be in the south of the UK including London, Reading, Oxford and Cambridge. At the same time in Wales, Cardiff and Carmarthen could see 21C while it will be cooler in Scotland where temperatures may struggle to get more than 11C.
The Met Office forecast for Friday reads: “Showers in the west dying out during the morning, but dry elsewhere with warm sunshine. Breezy in the south and west, and feeling cooler along North Sea coasts.” Ands the outlook from Saturday to Monday states: “Generally fine and settled over the weekend and into next week with warm sunshine. Some low cloud possible across the northeast at times. Still breezy in the southwest. Cooling down.”
