Met Office forecasts mega 29C hottest day of the year - 5 UK places expected to be warmest

The hottest day of the year so far is expected this week as temperatures are set to hit 28C, the said.

The UK could see temperatures of 24C or 25C on Monday, which will rise each day until a peak on Wednesday or Thursday of 28C, with a small chance of seeing 29C, the forecaster said. There will also be widespread sunshine, with only the northern parts of expected to see some rain.

The areas with the warmest conditions will be Herefordshire, parts of the West Midlands, the Thames Valley, as well as parts of Wales and Yorkshire. During the nights temperatures will drop down to at least low teens, so "we shouldn't suffer too much with warm nights", Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell said.

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He added: "We're certainly on track to see the warmest spell of the year so far. The warm trend has already started now across southern areas. At the moment we've got up to 21.5C in central London and Hull. As we go through the next few days we will see the warm spell continue."

Monday is likely to be the hottest day of the year so far, which currently is April 24 when it hit 24C, then each day could break the record again until the peak, Mr Snell said. Mr Snell added: "There will be plenty of sunshine around, the very north of Scotland at times will see some spells of rain, especially at the beginning of the week, but it's going to be limited to the far north of Scotland.

"For a lot of the UK it's going to be largely sunny." Temperatures will be "markedly higher" than what they should be for this time of year, as at the end of April it is usually about 12C in the north and 16C in the south, so some areas could be in excess of 10C higher than the average.

Records for April and May are unlikely to be broken as the record for April stands at 29.4C, and May's record is 32.8C. But some local records at stations could be broken, the forecaster added. It will be close to what the Met Office considers a in some areas, but there is not likely to be a heatwave widely, Mr Snell said.

According to the Met Office, the definition of a heatwave is three consecutive days of temperatures exceeding the "heatwave threshold", which varies across the country. The threshold is 25C for most of the UK, with slightly higher numbers for the south and east, and rising to 28C in London. On Friday temperatures will start to drop towards the average for the time of year, with temperatures in the high teens in the south and mid teens in the north, Mr Snell said.

UK five-day weather forecast This Evening and Tonight:

Mild and breezy across northern areas with rain at times in the far north and northwest. Dry with clear spells further south allowing some patchy mist and fog to develop. Turning chilly in the countryside.

Monday:

Staying rather cloudy in the north with further rain, chiefly across the north and west of Scotland. Otherwise dry with fog and frost clearing to leave plenty of warm sunshine.

Outlook for Tuesday to Thursday:

Patchy rain in the north initially, then dry and settled on Tuesday and Wednesday. Some very warm sunshine. A band of cloud introducing cooler air in the north on Thursday.