The Met Office has forecast 'very hot' weather this week, with Birmingham edging closer to 30C. After a cool start, temperatures are set to rise steadily, reaching 26C by the end of the week. However, the heat will come with increased humidity and a chance of thunderstorms.
Temperature Rise Across the Week
Monday, June 15, saw highs of 22C in Birmingham, but the mercury is expected to climb day by day. By Friday, temperatures could hit 26C, with some parts of the UK even reaching 28C. The warm weather is driven by high pressure building across the south-east of England, drawing up a warmer plume of air.
Honor Criswick, a meteorologist at the Met Office, explained: 'The temperatures this week are going to be increasing day-by-day, especially across the south-east of England. This is where high pressure is starting to build, and we start to bring in a slightly warmer plume of air. So, there's potentially some very warm, if not quite hot, weather towards the end of the week.'
Thunderstorm Risk
However, the warm conditions could spark thunderstorms. The Met Office's long-range forecast for June 20 to June 29 warns: 'There is the possibility of some very warm and humid weather across parts of south and southeast Britain at the start of this period and perhaps the chance of a few thunderstorms too.'
As the high pressure builds more widely towards the latter part of June, drier and settled conditions are expected, with temperatures remaining above average. But there is still a chance that Atlantic low pressure could bring brief spells of wet and windy weather, and hot conditions may return northwards accompanied by a thunderstorm risk.
Birmingham's Forecast
For Birmingham specifically, the Met Office predicts 'mostly dry with some warm spells of sunshine' between Wednesday and Friday. The weather will often turn 'hazy under variable amounts of cloud,' and humidity will continue to increase throughout the week.
