London weather: Met Office shoots down ‘inaccurate’ tropical blast reports as cooler spell predicted

The Met Office has rubbished reports of a tropical blast on the way ahead of an expected cold snap next week.

Addressing reports that the UK may experience 40C heat in the coming weeks, the Met Office said: “It’s not possible to forecast the highest temperature this summer at this range.”

Going further, it clarified that temperatures in London and across the UK will turn cooler this weekend and into next week.

In its latest update, the Met Office reports that temperatures in the capital will reach 8-9C on Thursday morning before rising to a high of 15C in the afternoon.

Beyond the afternoon, Met Office forecaster Alex Deakin said there is the possibility of “showers late in the day” as temperatures begin to cool.

Mr Deakin said there will “be quite a lot of cloud” on Friday ahead of an overcast weekend.

There are a few misleading headlines around about heatwaves at the moment.

Here's our #FactCheck on the current forecast 👇

And a reminder that it's not possible to forecast the highest temperature this summer at this range. pic.twitter.com/VqR8JwQxx5

— Met Office (@metoffice) April 19, 2023

Along with overcast conditions, the forecaster predicts a high of 13C on Saturday and 14C on Sunday. The BBC’s own weather forecast reports there is the chance of showers across the capital on Sunday.

Commenting on their forecast the BBC’s Elizabeth Rizzini said that showers will become more “frequent as we head through Friday”.

She adds: “Over the weekend it’s not going to feel very warm.

“The winds will be lighter but again there will be showers at times.”

Looking further ahead, both the Met Office and BBC report that temperatures will struggle to rise beyond 10-11C on Monday and Tuesday.

While hard to predict, average temperatures are not expected to return until the end of the month with a warning that some parts of the country may see wintry showers next week.