Some lucky parts of the UK could be basking in a third heatwave in a month by the middle of July, the Met Office has said.
Next weekend could see increasing heat and humidity and the potential for another period of hot weather which could last into the following week.
Met Office meteorologist Zoe Hutin said: ‘Whilst it is difficult this far ahead to determine exactly how hot things could get next week and weekend, there is the potential that some parts of the country could reach heatwave criteria.’
This follows two weekends of heatwave conditions for much of the country in the final weeks of June, which was the hottest on record across England, with Faversham, Kent, hitting nearly 36C last Tuesday.
To qualify as a heatwave, a location must reach or exceed a certain temperature for three consecutive days, 25C in the west and north and 28C in London and the surrounding counties.
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Ms Hutin said temperatures were expected to reach the high 20s in the South East on July 9, with the potential for low 30s on July 10.
She said hot conditions were expected to continue into the weekend because of an area of high pressure building from the West then stretching across the South and drawing in warm air from the Atlantic and Azores.
The meteorologist said: ‘Most likely it will be the South and East that see prolonged heat and thus could have another heatwave, but it is too soon to say exactly how high temperatures could get.’
This weekend and the start of next week will be cooler than recent days, Ms Hutin added, with ‘cloudier skies prevailing and bringing spells of rain at times, especially for western areas’.
‘It will be drier overall in the East, though some drizzly outbreaks are still possible on Saturday, with showers on Sunday,’ she said.
Temperatures could reach 25C in the South East on Saturday, 24C on Sunday and 23C on Monday.
Meanwhile, a yellow weather warning has been issued by the Met Office for rain across parts of Argyll and Bute, in Scotland, the south Highlands, Mull and Skye until Saturday afternoon, with up to 60mm of rain predicted and more than 100mm in mountain areas.
The Environment Agency has issued flood alerts in Cumbria after heavy rain on Friday for the rivers Duddon, Crake and Mill Beck, and other watercourses, from Coniston to Barrow-in-Furness, including low lying areas around Ulpha, Duddon Bridge, Broughton-in-Furness, Kirkby-in-Furness, Dalton-in-Furness and Ulverston.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has a further six flood alerts in Argyll and Bute, Ayrshire and Arran, Easter Ross and Great Glen, Skye and Lochaber, west central Scotland and Wester Ross.
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