Weather experts have predicted that the next heatwave to hit London will be coming sooner than expected and it will be even hotter
The latest weather forecasts have predicted that the next heatwave in London is set to be even hotter than initially predicted. On top of that, it looks set to arrive this weekend, a few days earlier than expected.
Both The Met Office and BBC Weather reckon the mercury will rise to 28C or more this weekend and stay that way for three or more days, meeting the London threshold for a heatwave. The former predicts this will happen on Saturday (August 8), while the latter thinks it will be Sunday (August 9).
This is despite previous forecasts that the heatwave – London’s sixth of the year – would only come firmly into next week. It’s also looking to be even hotter, with temperatures on some days reaching as high as 31C or 32C.
This means that London will be as hot or even hotter than parts of Spain. Wednesday August 12 and Thursday August 13 will be peak at 32C, slightly hotter than Barcelona will be across the same time period.
In Palma, the Mallorcan capital, meanwhile, temperatures will be more or less in line with London’s.
Having said that, there may well be hope on the horizon, especially for the gardeners among you. Tuesday Augist 18 looks like it could get some rain.
It’s worth remembering that it would be light rain, no downpours or anything like that, and that meteorologists operate on a probability scale. That being said, BBC Weather is forecasting a 74% chance of rainfall early in the day.
It’s also quite far ahead and forecasts can change very quickly, so by no means take this as a given that we’ll get rainfall.
Meanwhile, The Met Office has refused to rule out further heatwaves in September.
The long range forecast reads: “Temperatures will probably be above average and some spells of hot weather and heatwaves are possible, especially in the south.”
In other words, a state of drought could continue.
“It’s been bone dry, we’ve not been able to abstract an awful lot of water,” said Martin Padley of Thames Water.
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