Londoners are set to enjoy a blast of hot sunny weather with temperatures tipped to soar above the likes of Madrid and Lisbon.
A mini “Iberian plume” will send the mercury as high as 28C as the capital basks in warm weather throughout the weekend and next week following a rainy and cloudy August.
Temperatures will start to rise this weekend and into the beginning of next week with the capital possibly reaching 28C on Wednesday — about the same as Barcelona.
The warm weather will be a welcome change for many after weeks of unpredictable conditions including storms. The Met Office said the late-summer burst of heat was down to high pressure settling over the UK.
In its London forecast for next week it said: “This period begins with high pressure probably centred to the east of the UK, maintaining mostly dry conditions across the country.
“Many areas will see large amounts of sunshine, although it will be on the breezy side, especially in the south and west. With time, the high pressure over the country is likely to drift a little further eastwards, though it is most likely to remain dry for many.”
It comes as the forecaster announced its list of storm names for this winter. Agnes, Babet and Ciarán will be the first three named by the group this season.
Met Office head of situational awareness Will Lang, who leads responses to severe weather, said: “This is the ninth year of us naming storms and we do it because it works. Naming storms helps to ease communication of severe weather and provides clarity when people could be impacted by the weather.”
Aviation chiefs were meeting Transport Secretary Mark Harper on Friday as the knock-on effects of the air traffic control failure continued. Thousands of holidaymakers were still stranded overseas after the system collapsed on Monday.
Mr Harper said he was meeting officials from Nats, the Civil Aviation Authority, airlines and airports. He added: “Airlines have worked incredibly hard to fly passengers back, and I remain in contact with the industry to ensure we’re doing everything possible to get passengers home as quickly as possible.”
