Britain will bask in 84F (29C) heat today before a 91F (33C) hottest day of the year on Friday as temperatures soar to warmer than Barcelona.
The mercury will soar for two days, despite showers in some parts this morning, before more rain comes as we move into August.
The North of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland will have downpours in part but it will clear in most areas for the rest of the day. Only northern and central Scotland will be blighted by the weather throughout today.
The rest of the country will bask in glorious sunshine as warmer and drier weather sweeps across the UK with temperatures hitting 84F (29C).
It comes after a soaking and chilly July, which Britons celebrated the end of by descending on beaches nationwide yesterday.
Meanwhile British holidaymakers are deciding whether to risk a trip to Spain – which comes with a two-week quarantine period on return – or a staycation in the UK.
The mercury will soar for two days, with showers in some parts this morning, before more rain comes as we move into August. Pictured: Pedalos in Weymouth, Dorset, yesterday
The UK average temperature for this month is currently on course to be just (57F) – one degree less than the 1981-2010 long-term average of 15.2C (59.3F), it said.
So far this month, the highest maximum temperature recorded was 28.5C on July 17 at Heathrow Airport.
The cool temperatures and wet weather are due to low pressure systems and weather fronts coming through, as well as ‘unseasonal’ winds – gusts of up to 50mph were recorded on Monday.
The UK has already surpassed 100 per cent of the average monthly rainfall and only experienced two thirds (66 per cent) of the expected sunshine for an average July – a total of 113.4 hours, Met Office figures show.
In recent years, the average July temperature has exceeded the average, hitting 16.4C (61.5F) and 17.2C (63F) in 2019 and 2018 respectively, it said.
The Met Office said temperatures are expected to rise continually over the next few days, with some areas getting into the 30s by the weekend.
But the good weather is expected to be short-lived and will not bring up the UK’s average monthly temperature for July.
Two people walk over a hill as the sun rises at Chesterton Windmill in Chesterton, Warwickshire, on Thursday morning
Holidays to Spain may be off the agenda for the foreseeable future – but the warm Iberian weather is coming to the UK instead, with temperatures set to hit 91F (33C) in parts of the south east on Friday. Pictured: A group of girl line up their chairs to catch the sun on Bournemouth beach yesterday
A spokesman said: ‘We’re expecting (Friday) temperatures to potentially get to 33, certainly isolated 33s, which may just get the warmest day of the year, though there was a 33.4 in June.
‘We’ve not seen a temperature anywhere above 30 so far or even with a three in it – that is quite unusual for July.’
The mercury is expected to rise highest in areas such as Reading, Northampton or Cambridge, though (86F) 30C temperatures may also feature as far north as the Scottish border.
The Met Office said the good weather would not extend into the three-day ‘heatwave territory’.
The spokesman added: ‘In terms of shifting the overall weather stats for the month, it’s not going to do much to the average.’
Meanwhile Jane Pendlebury, executive director of the Hospitality Professionals Association, a hotel industry association, said a UK staycation carries much less disruptive risk.
Britons hit the beach as mercury nears 70F yesterday in Lyme Refis in Dorset. But the weather is set to get considerably hotter, with temperatures set to soar to 91F on Friday, with a warm and sunny weekend to follow with highs of 77F
Sunseekers flock to the beach at Lyme Regis to soak up the scorching sunshine beneath the Dorset sky yesterday afternoon
She said: ‘Of course, the threat of regional outbreaks is real, but the restrictions imposed won’t be as impactful – with returning home from within the UK far easier than doing so from abroad.
‘Whilst we can’t necessarily offer the same weather as the Balearics or the Canaries, what we can do is offer exceptional hospitality – albeit with necessary precautions in place.’
Tour operator TUI has taken the blanket decision to cancel all its planned holidays to mainland Spain until August 9.
Meanwhile, British campsites and holiday home operators, such as Sykes Cottages, have enjoyed a surge in bookings.
Sykes’ chief executive Graham Donoghue told the BBC: ‘News of Spain’s travel restrictions at the weekend resulted in a 53 percent year-on-year rise in bookings. We’re also seeing a steady stream of bookings for holidays in 2021 too.’
Three women laugh as they hold hands and walk down the seafront at Bournemouth beach in Dorset on Wednesday afternoon
The Whitbread group, which owns the Premier Inn hotel chain, said it had seen strong demand in summer bookings for hotel rooms in tourist hotspots since the beginning of July.
The exclusive department store Fortnum and Mason is even offering a dedicated ‘perfect staycation’ package – including a picnic basket, champagne and tea, of course.
But even if more Britons decide to stay put this year, it is unlikely to make up the shortfall for the tourism sector, which is pleading with the government for help to weather the crisis.
VisitBritain, British tourism’s lobbying body, estimates that the number of foreign tourists could fall by as much as 60 percent this year due to the pandemic.
The Labour opposition has already warned of an unemployment crisis, with rates rising faster than the national average in the English regions most dependent on tourism such as Cornwall (south-west), Yorkshire (north) and the Lake District (north-west).
Destinations popular with foreign tourists, such as Bath, southwest England, are also struggling to draw in the crowds.
The sight of a few tourists milling around the city’s famous Roman Baths is in stark contrast to the usual throng that packs out the city, which normally welcomes around six million visitors a year.
‘It’s not even a quarter of the business that we usually get. I’d say it’s like two to three percent,’ Marcus Barnes said as he cleaned the front of his souvenir shop.
The local authorities have introduced new measures, such as limiting the size of groups visiting the city, in an attempt to woo potential holidaymakers.
Stephen Bird from the city council, said: ‘We think that if we can…have fewer people coming but staying longer, putting more into the local economy, actually getting more out of their visit, then that will be a more sustainable model for the future.’
The few intrepid tourists spotted on the streets seemed reassured. Cieran Fowley, who lives in London, said: ‘You’re starting to see the sanitisation at hotels, the social distancing, so all in all I feel comfortable.’