Tropical blast from the Azores sees temperatures soar above 80F

World News

Tropical blast from the Azores will see three-day mini-heatwave with temperatures soaring above 80F this weekend before thunderstorms and torrential rain return next week

  • Plume of sweltering air from the Azores Islands will push up the mercury today and this weekend
  • But weather experts urged people to make the most of it before rain and thunderstorms return next week
  • South East expected to enjoy the warmest conditions this weekend, which will please music fans at festivals 
  • However Met Office warns that end of July is ‘likely to see some more changeable weather conditions at first’

Britain is set for a beautiful barbecue weekend as the country enjoys temperatures rising to 81F (27C).

A plume of sweltering air from the Azores Islands will push up the mercury today and this weekend, although weather experts urged people to make the most of the sunshine before rain and thunderstorms return next week.

The South East of England is expected to enjoy the warmest conditions this weekend, which will please music fans heading to various festivals across London including Citadel, Kew The Music, On Blackheath and Lovebox.

Willesborough Windmill, a restored and working white smock mill built in 1869 in Ashford, Kent, in the morning sunlight today

Saga cruise ship Spirit of Discovery passes a cargo vessel called Mick as the liner heads into the River Tyne this morning

Rare white noctilucent clouds seen over Tynemouth Priory on the North East coast of England at 2am this morning

Noctilucent clouds seen from Tynemouth this morning. They are the highest clouds in the earth’s atmosphere and only visible in summer when illuminated by the sun from below the horizon and the lower layers of the atmosphere are still in darkness

But wind, rain and storms threaten to blight the rest of July, with the Met Office saying the end of the month is ‘likely to see some more changeable weather conditions at first, as Atlantic weather systems push across the UK’.

Met Office meteorologist Nicola Maxey said: ‘We have high pressure building this weekend and although there will be the risk of the odd shower in central and northern parts of the country there will be plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures as air comes up from the Azores.

‘We expect the good weather to hold out this weekend and through Monday before there are signs of a shift around mid-week to something a bit more unsettled.

‘High pressure starts to break down and there will be the risk of showers and some of these could be thundery in places. As we go through the rest of the month there are indications that low pressure will be in control.’

As for the Wimbledon Championships in South West London, a Met Office spokesman said tennis fans could expect some sunshine this morning with a few showers from about 9am onwards and temperatures of 75F (24C). 


Warm temperatures are expected across the country today (left) and tomorrow (right) with sunshine also expected


The pollen count is medium or high for the whole of Britain today (left), while the UV index is high for all of England (right)

He said: ‘The showers will continue into the first part of the afternoon with a 20 per cent chance of it causing some disruption. It will clear away to the middle of the afternoon leaving the rest of the day dry and bright.

It comes after lightning struck around 15,000 times in parts of Scotland yesterday, crippling rail services and knocking out power to 1,400 homes.

An area between Tomatin and Moy south of Inverness saw the greatest electrical activity, with a bolt knocking out the power supply to the railway signals system. Two ScotRail trains to and from Inverness were brought to a halt.

Another lightning strike took out the domestic electricity supply to hundreds of homes in the Tomatin and Grantown-on-Spey areas. That came just 24 hours after Dingwall, Ross-shire, was deluged by two inches of rain.

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