UK climate maps flip darkish pink as 33C warmth bomb set to scorch England on ‘hottest day of the 12 months’

According to the Met Office, the first heatwave of the year could officially hit this weekend as weather maps show dark red temperatures soaring above 30C for the first time in 2025

UK weather maps turn deep red this weekend, forecasting the first heatwave of the summer and the hottest day of the year so far.

The warm weather we’ve been having all week is set to peak on Sunday, potentially hitting a whopping 33C in some areas.

The hottest day of 2025 so far was last Friday, when 29.4C was recorded in Santon Downham, West Suffolk, but that figure is expected to be exceeded this weekend. The Met Office said on Tuesday that temperatures could reach as high as 33C in the east of England on Sunday, not far off the highest ever recorded in June of 35.6C in Southampton in 1976.

Weather maps show the southeast England and Midlands all reaching the 30C mark, while Scotland looks to sit in the mid twenties.

Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist Dan Holley said: “The trend for temperatures to rise continues into Friday, with a maximum of 30C in Central England. With the hot temperatures, we could also see some thundery showers across the far west Friday night into Saturday’.”

“Widespread very warm conditions are expected on Saturday, with a top temperature of 32C.

“Sunday looks to see the peak of the very warm spell, with a headline max of 33C possible.”

The warm weather will be concentrated across East Anglia and south-east England on Tuesday before spreading across the Midlands, east Wales and north England by the weekend.

The threshold for a heatwave varies depending on the county in England, Scotland and Wales, while Northern Ireland has its own single threshold. In London, for example, this threshold is 28C, while it is 27C on the south east coast, and 25C in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Although forecasts can change quickly, by those standards the UK will be in a heatwave for the rest of the week.

Whilst we have seen temperatures exceeding these figures in recent weeks, the warm spells have not been long enough to qualify as a heatwave – but that could be about to change.

Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge explained that the cause of this warm weather is down to high pressure from the Azores in the North Atlantic Ocean, while this will be boosted at the end of the week by an incursion of warm air from further south in Europe.

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