UK weather: Exact date Britain will finally hit 25C as African heat plume cranks up heat

Forecasters have revealed the exact date Britain is set to enjoy 25C heat as an African heat plume is due to descend on the country.

After one of the dullest starts to a year in decades, Brits are seeing the rain and clouds pass in places, replaced by sun and clear skies.

Early figures show that spring has seen far less hours of sunshine than usual.

March in particular had far more clouds and gloom, with Devon, Somerset, Hampshire and Wiltshire suffering their dullest March in 110 years, according to the Met Office.

In addition, England and Wales had their respective wettest Marches since 1981, and Northern Ireland its third wettest March on record.

The end of the month could see temperatures reach as high as 25C (Netweather)

But as that passes, Brits can begin to look ahead towards summer as the mercury begins to climb upwards.

Jim Dale, senior meteorologist at British Weather Services, said the country can expect highs of 25C towards the end of May.

Then, in June, the nation could see the temperatures and humidity turn up a notch as the plume of North African air pushes across Europe.

Speaking to The Express, the senior meteorologist said: “We should hit 25C before May is out. Then 30C is the next staging post.

One forecaster predicted there's a good chance of the country hitting 30C in the first few weeks of June (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

“I think it’s a 50/50 chance for 30C heat during the first 10 days of June, but it is all down to us receiving the necessary sustained airflow from North Africa.”

Weather maps indicate that as things stand, June 3 could see temperatures spike as the plume of hot air from the south covers parts of the south east of England and midlands.

The forecast African plume is a bloc of warm air that it has been said could sweep up from northern Africa to Europe and even as far as the UK.

This could see temperatures rise with some reports warning it could go well towards 35C.

The Met Office has said that this weekend is expected to be dry and sunny with temperatures pushing 20C in places.

England and Wales are expected to see the lion’s share of the sunshine.

The Met Office's long-range forecast, which covers the period from Tuesday May 23 - Thursday Jun 1, states that high pressure "will dominate over most of the UK through the first half of this period, with settled conditions for most of the country" and that the predicted warm weather fronts will "bring a good deal of fine and dry weather for the majority of areas".