Temperatures in England will be "well above average" this weekend with Friday all but certain to be the hottest day of the year, according to the Met Office. Parts of the capital are expected to hit 24C (75.2F) on Friday, a temperature far higher than the average of 16.2C (61.2F) for the month in England.
Met Office meteorologist Richard Miles said that Friday's temperatures were "particularly surprising" as it is so early in the month.
He said: "The average maximum temperature for May is 15.13C in the UK and 16.2C in England, so it's quite a bit above that. But obviously May tends to be quite a lot cooler at the start than at the end."
The hottest day of 2022 so far was April 15, where a high of 23.4C (74.1F) was recorded at St James' Park, London. These temperatures remain some way off the record temperature for the month, with the hottest May day ever reaching 32.8C (91F) in 1944.
Although temperatures are not set to climb any further over the weekend, the warmer than average weather is nevertheless here to stay, if only for a short time.
Mr Miles said: "24C is going to be the top temperature you'll see in the South East and then tomorrow everywhere will be a bit cooler", adding that "low 20s for lots of the south is fairly realistic, Friday and Saturday".
Parts of England are expected to be warmer than Istanbul, and similar to Athens and Barcelona. Next week's weather is due to be more of a mixed bag, as forecasters predict a "north-south split".
Weather fronts are expected to "move down from the north west bringing showers and damper conditions, but the south and the south east particularly will probably stay relatively dry", forecasters said.
However, those in southern England will not have long to wait until warmer temperatures return, as towards the back of the week temperatures are set to be in the low 20s once again.
