London weather forecast: Heatwave predicted this week as mercury set to hit 30 degrees

London is set to reach a sizzling 30 degrees this week, as several days of warm weather hits the capital following a largely wet and mild summer.

The Met Office is predicting the mercury will hit 30 on Wednesday and Thursday, with the rest of the week to record highs in the late 20s. Parts of southern England will get as high as 32, amid what a forecaster dubbed “a noticeable heat event”.

While some patches of low cloud and fog are predicted overnight on several days, the weather will largely remain dry and warm, a contrast to what has been a wetter-than-average summer.

Jonathan Vautrey, a Met Office meteorologist, said the last time the UK saw 30 was on July 7, while it was the end of June when the country last experienced 32 degrees.

The sweltering weather is arriving courtesy of warm air flowing up from continental Europe, he added.

Mr Vautrey warned those looking to make the most of the sunshine to remember to use skin protection, and to stay hydrated.

Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Mark Sidaway said: “High pressure is situated to the southeast of the UK, which is bringing more settled conditions with temperatures on the rise through the first half of this week.

“While the highest temperatures are expected in the south, heatwave conditions are likely across much of England and Wales especially, with parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland also likely to see some unseasonably high temperatures.”

“An active tropical cyclone season in the North Atlantic is helping to amplify the pattern across the North Atlantic, and has pushed the jet stream well to the north of the UK, allowing some very warm air to be drawn north.

“It’s a marked contrast to the much of meteorological summer, when the UK was on the northern side of the jet stream with cooler air and more unsettled weather.”

The three months June to August were the eighth-hottest on record, the Met Office said. However, it added this was largely due to June’s record-breaking temperatures, with July and August closer to average.

Met Office senior scientist Mike Kendon said: “The lion’s share of fine and settled weather in summer 2023 for the UK occurred in June, when high pressure was widely established bringing many dry days of warm summer sunshine.

“After that, however, the jet stream shifted much further to the south, with low-pressure systems often bringing rather wet and windy conditions to the UK through much of July and August.

“The characteristic variability of the UK’s climate has once again been illustrated by this summer: the season’s temperature figures are influenced by how significantly hot June was, but the result is that summer 2023 will go down as a warm and wet one for the UK, with plenty of rainfall in the second half of the season.”

London’s weather forecast September 4 to 10

• Monday 4 - high of 28, low of 18
• Tuesday 5 - high of 28, low of 18
• Wednesday 6 - high of 30, low of 19
• Thursday 7 - high of 30, low of 20
• Friday 8 - high of 29, low of 20
• Saturday 9 - high of 28, low of 20
• Sunday 10 - high of 28, low of 18