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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Sian Baldwin

When is the late summer heat surge coming? Everything we know

It has been somewhat a mixed bag when it has come to the weather this summer.

Both blazing heat and dreary downpours have characterised the summer of 2024, but sun seekers need not worry – there is another hot blast on the cards.

Recently, there has been a dip in temperature, with it set to become even cooler in September. But, before all that, we will have a few days of sunshine – and, in even better news, it is set to coincide with the bank holiday weekend.

Experts say a ‘major heat surge” for a few days is incoming imminently.

James Madden of Exacta Weather said he had picked up "increasing and strengthening signals" for "another major heat surge".

He said he was expecting this "during late August" or on "several days in and around August 25, possibly a little earlier”.

“We expect another hot to very hot period from another high-pressure build to gain strength for around August 20 to 25, particularly for in and around August 25,” he explained, adding that the high pressure could even continue into early September,” explained Mr Madden.

"Excellent signals are coming through for more hot weather and potentially extreme heat during late August and well into September."

Monday, August 12 was the hottest day recorded in two years, with temperatures reaching 34.8°C in Cambridge. The record was first taken earlier in the day when temperatures reached 32.4°C in Wisley, Surrey.

The hottest day of 2024 before that was July 19, when temperatures reached 31.9°C in central London.

The hot weather comes after a surge of warm air sweeping in from Europe caused temperatures to rise significantly across much of the country on Sunday.

The Met Office defines a heatwave as a period of three days or longer of temperatures that exceed the norm.

They have also revealed their predictions for the bank holiday weekend.

They said: “Sunday is likely to be settled across most parts, with bright, predominately dry conditions, although there will be a few showers, mainly in the north.

“Later Sunday into Monday, a band of cloud and rain is expected to move in from the Atlantic, bringing strengthening winds. This is expected to bring the heaviest rain across northern and western hills of Scotland and Northern Ireland, then weakening as it moves south-east, further into England and Wales.

“The rest of the period is signalled to maintain the north-west-south-east split, but with settled weather in the south and east, perhaps becoming more extensive across the country later.

“Temperatures overall will probably be close to average, with a chance of some short-lived very warm conditions in the south and east at times.”

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