UK Weather: Met Office verdict on whether 'North African heatwave' with 29C temperatures is heading our way

After a disappointing start to June, it looks as though the weather fortunes could be about to turn. If the heatwave hits before the end of the month, as predicted in new weather maps, it could bring with it temperatures of around 29ºC.

Netweather forecaster Ian Simpson told the Express: "There is some chance of some of that North African and southern European heat making its way to the British Isles towards the end of June, depending on whether the ridges of high pressure from the Azores align in such a way that we pull in hot air masses from the south and south-east, but this is not a certainty."

The Met Office long-range forecast is not quite predicting a ‘heatwave’ but looks optimistic that temperatures will rise. It reads: “Into the last week of June, changeable conditions are likely to remains dominant, with the focus for these conditions continuing to be across the north and west, with spells of more settled and drier conditions likely in the south and east. Nationwide, temperatures are expected to be close to or slightly above average.”

It comes as the mercury across Europe soars, with tourist hotspots forced to close to the public due to extreme heat. The Acropolis in Greece was forced to shut after surface temperatures reached 75ºC.

It’s not quite looking like the extreme heat will travel across the continent to the UK. In the next week from Tuesday to Friday, the Met Office has predicted: “Dry with sunny spells for many. Showers likely across eastern Scotland and northeast England. Winds light and feeling pleasant in the sunshine. A little rain possible in the far southeast.

“Fewer showers through the period with sunny spells for most. Some rain in the far north and possibly far southeast later. Feeling warmer in the sunshine with winds easing.”