Today will be hottest day in the year
Today is forecast to be the warmest day of the year so far, with temperatures hitting 30 Celsius, hotter than Rome, Athens, Lisbon and Istanbul
London: Today is forecast to be the warmest day of the year so far, with temperatures hitting 30 Celsius, hotter than Rome, Athens, Lisbon and Istanbul.
The heatwave, which is set to continue for most of next week, comes as millions prepare to watch England take on Germany in the World Cup, Murraymania sweeps Wimbledon, and thousands bask in the sun at the usually mud-caked Glastonbury music festival.
London and south-east England are expected to experience the warmest weather. Western England and the Midlands will also have hot sunny weather but it will be cloudy in Northern Ireland and Scotland, with a risk of heavy showers and thunderstorms. Today was forecast to be slightly cooler, with temperatures of 26C in the south-east.
The hottest day of the year so far was on 24 May when the temperature reached 28.8C at Heathrow airport and the Olympic Park in east London.
MeteoGroup weather forecaster Steve Ellison said the heatwave was caused by a ridge of high pressure across central and eastern England.
"It's looking pretty hot and sunny this weekend, especially across southern areas. The rest of Europe is pretty hot over the weekend too," he said.
The weather is good news for sports fans. At Wimbledon today the British No 1 Andy Murray will be battling it out with Gilles Simon in his third-round match.
Wimbledon officials expect to sell 1,000 bottles of suncream and 8,615 punnets of strawberries. Spectators are also expected to drink some 19,200 bottles of water. The temperature at Glastonbury should top 25C. So far, medics at the festival have treated 1,185 people.
