UK to be hotter than California as 500-mile ‘tropical thrust’ brings 20C temps
Highs of 18C on Wednesday will climb to around 20C – 6C above average – by Friday, with sunny spells and showers easing in the South
The UK is set to sizzle this week(Image: James Linsell Clark / SWNS)
Britain will be hotter than Malibu this week as a 500 mile-wide ‘tropical thrust’ brings 20C temperatures and the warmest April for 367 years.
Highs of 18C on Wednesday will climb to around 20C – 6C above average – by Friday, with sunny spells and showers easing in the South.
Britain will outshine 17C Malibu, California, as tropical air from the Atlantic arrives. Even the North is due 18C, though rain is expected at times.
Netweather forecaster Nick Finnis said: “It’s warming up as we change to a tropical air mass, with the high teens and sunny spells on the way.”
The Weather Outlook forecaster Brian Gaze added: “Temperatures will climb as milder air pushes in. The South-East will be mainly dry, with wetter conditions at times in the North-West.”
The Met Office said the weekend will be drier, with more warm conditions for many next week. With heat ahead, this month is poised to be the warmest April in Central England since records began in 1659.
The month so far is already averaging 9.8C, 1.9C above normal and in the hottest 5% of Aprils on record, despite the warmest half of the month being still to come. April’s record average temperature is 2011’s 12.0C.
Bookmakers Ladbrokes cut odds on this month being the warmest on record from 4/1 to 2/1 as a result.
Ladbrokes spokesperson Nicola McGeady said: “The odds on the hottest April on record are melting quicker than an ice cream in the warm spring sunshine.”
Last week’s 26.6C was the second-hottest day ever recorded so early in the year.
A Met Office forecaster said: “It will feel warm in the sunshine, but with some showers. The weekend should be drier for many, with spells of warm sunshine.
“And it should get warmer as we move into the end of April.”
