Football fans set for World Cup scorcher as England to reach 33C on Saturday
England fans will feel the heat in more ways than one this weekend as it is set to be the hottest of the year so far.
Millions of people will be glued to their televisions as England take on Sweden in the World Cup quarter-final on Saturday, while the mercury will climb to as high as 33C (91F) outside.
Porthmadog in Wales reached 33C exactly on Thursday June 28, making it the hottest day of the year so far.
And this weekend is set to match that high, with the potential of edging just above it to break another 2018 record.
The forecast is looking good tomorrow afternoon...?? pic.twitter.com/3Uu6uPiIzN
-- Met Office (@metoffice) July 6, 2018
Met Office spokeswoman Nicola Maxey said temperatures in London and south east are likely to reach 31C (88F) and 32C (90F), with isolated weather stations potentially reaching 33C on Saturday and possibly Sunday.
"We could well see the hottest day of the year so far this weekend. It's only got to go to 33.1C and you're there," she said.
The football is due to start at 3pm, and temperatures are set to reach their highest in the afternoon.
Everywhere across the south will enjoy temperatures in the high 20s and even low 30s.
We may be starting to sound like a broken record but it's #hot and #sunny for most this afternoon ? pic.twitter.com/k4hg6BXt91
-- Met Office (@metoffice) July 6, 2018
Ms Maxey pointed out that it reached 31.2C on Thursday in the north Midlands, with temperatures of 28C (82F) to 30C (86) widely felt across the country.
"It's not just in the south east, but the peak is likely to be the south east over the weekend," she said.
Ms Maxey also warned of isolated showers in London on Saturday, potentially in the afternoon.
"I don't suppose anybody minds. They're all going to be inside watching the football," she joked.
Whilst the jet stream will remain to the north of the UK keeping things mostly fine and sunny, somewhat fresher air will push southwards dropping temperatures a little next week #UKheatwavepic.twitter.com/YppW7mGbX8
-- Met Office (@metoffice) July 6, 2018
Next week, a colder front will come into Scotland and move south across the country causing temperatures to drop to the low 20s in the east and north east.
"Still above average for the time of year, but perhaps a bit of respite from that intense heat that we've been seeing in places.
"Just for the east side of the country. The south and central areas are likely to continue with the higher 20s," Ms Maxey said.
(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Catherine Wylie, Press Association');ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '01f3b41a-1a55-4ec1-aa48-0ae1c678d2de');ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:news,paservice:news:uk');ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', null);ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Football fans set for World Cup scorcher as England to reach 33C on Saturday'});
