UK weather forecast: Britain to be hotter than Rio on Bank Holiday Monday, warns Met Office

Conditions to rapidly cool before ‘wet and windy’ weather arrives

The UK could be set for the hottest Bank Holiday Monday on record with highs of 33C expected in some areas, before wetter weather and thunderstorms arrive later this week.

Temperatures on Sunday already hit a new record for the late August bank holiday weekend, with the mercury reaching 33C in west London – but Monday could be even hotter.

“Temperatures will be very similar to Sunday. We are likely to see something like 33C,” said Craig Snell, a Met Office forecaster.

“There could be scope that the record could be nudged up, but either way, it is going to be a hot day across the UK.”

“There will be hot weather in the southeast until Tuesday,” added Matthew Box, a meteorologist at the Met Office.

“Temperatures will be in the low 30s, mainly in London, Kent, East Sussex and Cambridgeshire.”

The southeast will be hotter than Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona across Monday and Tuesday.

NHS England has issued a heat health warning in response to the spike in temperatures.

The level three alert requires social and healthcare services to target specific actions at high-risk groups, such as the elderly.

Conditions will also be warm outside the south east, with temperatures expected to hit the mid twenties across the UK.

“Further north and west there will be more in the way of cloud and it will be slightly cooler,” Mr Box said.

The warm weather will continue into Tuesday but may be broken up by thunderstorms in the afternoon.

“Thundery showers are possible in western parts, maybe south west Wales and northern England,” Mr Box said.

The warm spell of weather has been caused by an established area of high pressure, which will be broken up by the middle of the week.

New weather fronts will approach the UK from the west, bringing colder weather.

“There will be cooler conditions by Thursday,” Mr Box said.

“It will be a wet and windy end to the week.

“We shall see a bit more cloud and rain. There will be persistent and heavy rain in Northern Ireland and Scotland and that will continue into the weekend.

“It’s a gradual cooling down in weather this week.”