The UK will experience what has been dubbed as a “brief taste of summer” today, as temperatures push towards 29C.
Forecasters believe there will be a 24-hour break from the wet weather across large parts of the UK, with rising temperatures predicted.
On Wednesday, the mercury peaked at 25.9C in Yeovilton in Somerset.
Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said: “Thursday is a mostly dry day. There could be a little bit of mist and fog around first thing, particularly across south-western parts of England, but generally sunny spells through the day and mostly dry.
“We could get a few showers developing in the afternoon across northern parts of Wales, drifting up across northwest England. The odd rumble of thunder is possible but they are very few and far between.
“The big thing is obviously the temperatures. Temperature wise for [Thursday] we are looking at many parts of England, Wales and southern Scotland reaching the mid-20s.
“We could see highs of 27C to 28C, possibly 29C somewhere in eastern England.
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“Midlands or East Midlands. Somewhere around the central parts of the UK is where you could see the highest temperature of a possible 29C.”
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However, the warm weather is likely to be short-lived, with rain moving eastwards across the country from Thursday night into Friday, with heavier showers in Scotland, the Mr Partridge said.
He also predicted Friday would be a mix of “sunshine and showers”, with temperatures sat around the low to mid-20Cs, with East Anglia getting the best of the weather.
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Mr Partridge said: “As we go into weekend we’ll slowly see temperatures come back to high teens, low-20Cs through the weekend. So yes, it’s short-lived unfortunately, but a brief taste of summer.
“The good news is, although this weekend will be a bit cooler than [Thursday], it is still around about average for the time of year.
“There will be showers around, but there will also be a good amount of sunshine, so it’s not going to be as bad as previous weekends we have seen recently.”
The Met Office has issued a yellow rain warning for parts of Northern Ireland this evening, which they say could lead to some localised disruption.
The warning is in place from 8pm on Thursday evening until the early hours of Friday morning, impacting central and eastern parts of Northern Ireland.
