UK weather: Met Office forecast amid reports of 25C ‘heatwave’

The UK is set for a ‘heatwave’ as Apple Weather and the BBC predict temperatures to rise next week – but what does the Met Office say?

Apple Weather has predicted that London could see temperatures of 25C next week for the first time this year. 

Those in the capital have been told to expect sunshine across the weekend with temperatures peaking between 3 and 4 pm on Saturday, June 10. 

Meanwhile, the BBC has also forecast summery temperatures with both Saturday and Sunday expected to peak at 24C and 23C respectively.

Here’s what the Met Office says the conditions are to constitute a heatwave. (Getty Images) (Image: Getty Images)

What the Met Office says amid reports of UK ‘heatwave’

The Met Office has not released its forecast for next weekend at the time of writing but its long-range forecast isn’t too dissimilar from Apple Weather and the BBC’s predictions.

For the period of June 6 to June 15, the Met Office says: “In general, the UK is likely to see a continuation of the recent dry weather for much of this period.

Eastern and northern areas are likely to see more cloud than the west, especially in coastal areas exposed to onshore winds.

“It will likely feel warm to rather warm across western areas, though cooler in the east when under cloud.

“There is a chance of isolated showers, mostly over high ground, in the early part of the period, with a small, but increasing, risk of rain or showers, perhaps thundery, over parts of southern and south-eastern England and Wales as the period progresses.

“Winds are likely to be light for most, though stronger in the south of England, and in coastal areas near the English Channel“.

Check the forecast where you are via the Met Office website.

Although temperatures are expected to rise generally across the UK, this does not mean that we’re getting a ‘heatwave‘.

Apple Weather and the BBC both predict temperatures to reach the mid 20s in London next week. ( Canva) (Image: Canva)

What counts as an official heatwave in the UK?

“A UK heatwave threshold is met when a location records a period of at least three consecutive days with daily maximum temperatures meeting or exceeding the heatwave temperature threshold,” the Met Office says on its website.

This threshold varies by county, so, for example, London, Surrey, Berkshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire need to have a temperature of 28C or more for three days for it to count as a heatwave.

Meanwhile, Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Rutland, West Midlands, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire require three days of 27C or more.

Counties that need 26C or more for three days include the Isle of Wight, Dorset, Somerset, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, South Yorkshire, and the south-east of Wales.

Everywhere else in the UK needs the temperature to reach 25C or higher for three days.

The Met Office adds: “The geographical differences reflect the differences in climate across the UK.

“The threshold temperatures have been calculated using the 1991-2020 climatology of daily maximum temperature at the mid-point of the meteorological summer (15 July).