UK Set For Hottest Temperatures In 40 Years As Heatwave Is On The Way

The UK is bracing itself for the hottest temperatures recorded in over 40 years as a heatwave approaches.

It's set to be a hot opening to the summer season as the heatwave currently baking Spain and Portugal in temperatures of up to 40C is heading for British shores.

While we won't quite get the sweltering 40C conditions seen in some parts of Spain, the heatwave could push temperatures to 'record breaking' levels of between 35C and 36C, which could surpass the last highest temperature recorded in the UK at this time of year, which was set in 1976. reports the Daily Express.

The hottest weather is due to hit the south east of the UK, with Kent, Sussex, Surrey and London all ready to feel the heat next week.

It could even get so hot that temperatures climb above the hottest day in June on record in the UK, where Southampton experienced a sweltering 35.6C all the way back in 28 June, 1976.

This heatwave heading for the UK originated in north Africa and has been carried by high pressure and a front of warm, subtropical air.

Met Office forecaster Simon Partridge told the Express there is a high chance that the heatwave will reach the UK next week and make itself known through sunny and dry conditions.

He said: "We are most likely looking at high pressure for next week, which means the weather will be nice, settled and dry with some decent sunshine across the southern half of the UK.

"Currently there is quite a lot of hot weather across Iberia - Spain and Portugal, and some of the prediction models pull that heat far enough north to reach the southern UK."

Over the next few days, high pressure will start to build in across southern parts of the UK, which will gradually import warmer air from further south."

While the south will bear the brunt of the heatwave, there will be plenty of warmer weather heading further north too.

Leeds Live reports that temperatures in the north of England could hit around the 25C mark, nowhere near the potential record breaking levels which could hit the south east but still a warm opening to summer.

The heatwave is expected grow warmer over the course of next week and hit a peak on Friday, 17 June.

After peaking on Friday the Met Office has said there may be a divide between conditions in the north and south as lower pressure in the north east could lead to occasional showery conditions.