Hours of unbroken sunshine amid blue skies are forecast for Gloucestershire over the coming days with temperatures set to peak at 27C within days. It comes as the Met Office says the warm and fine weather will not hit 'heatwave thresholds'.
Despite that, Gloucestershire can expect daytime highs to rise steadily through out the week to reach 27C on Thursday (May 1) as the county goes to the polls in the local elections. No rain is forecast for the next seven days.
Today, (Monday, April 28) will see highs of 22C on a clear sunny day and up to 24C on Tuesday. Wednesday will see highs up to 25C with the 27C spike on Thursday before highs fall to 23C on Friday, 21C on Saturday and 19C on Sunday as cloud rolls in.
Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist David Oliver said conditions this week "are likely to fall just outside of official Met Office heatwave thresholds. However, this shouldn’t lead to any disappointment as many can anticipate a very fine spell of weather with temperatures reaching 27°C during the middle of the week.”
The highest recorded April temperature was way in 1949 when Camden Square in London recorded 29.4C on 16 April. Met Office Chief Forecaster Matthew Lehnert said: “We are not expecting the April UK temperature record to be broken, but some locations may nudge local records.
“Often warm spells are driven by warmer air arriving from further south, but the origins of next week’s air are from Scandinavia and central Europe. This air mass will be warmed by compression as the high pressure begins to build, and this warmth will be boosted by daytime heating from the April sun.”
In Gloucestershire, the heatwave threshold is at least three days with daily maximum temperatures meeting or exceeding 27C. That is not forecast to happen in the county this week.
Met Office South West forecast
Today : Early morning mist and fog soon clearing, leaving a widely dry and fine day. Plenty of sunshine, with clear skies for all but the far southwest, where some patchy cloud may linger. Warm with temperatures higher than on Sunday. Maximum temperature 23 °C.
Tonight : Clear skies bring plenty of evening sunshine and clear skies overnight. Turning chilly, though most places remaining frost-free, with some mist and shallow fog forming in rural spots by dawn. Minimum temperature 5 °C.
Tuesday : Another widely warm and sunny day after any early morning fog has cleared. Light winds for most, though becoming breezier along the south coast. Maximum temperature 25 °C.
Outlook for Wednesday to Friday : A warm week with light winds and plenty of sunshine as high pressure continues to dominate. Generally light winds, though breezy at times along the coast. Slightly cooler on Friday.
UK long range weather forecast
Friday, May 2 to Sunday, May 11
Following a widely fine and very warm spell through the week, temperatures are most likely to return back closer to average from the north during Friday. Whilst a little rain is possible during this transition, most areas remaining largely dry.
Largely fine but cooler conditions are then most likely over the weekend. However, likely cloudier and breezier at times across some northern areas with a chance of rain. Into the following week, conditions will probably turn more changeable overall, with dry, settled periods interspersed with some spells of wetter weather.
This will bring some showers or longer spells of rain at times, which could be heavy and thundery in places. Temperatures will likely be around average.
Story Saved
You can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.
