Heatwave to peak this weekend as temperatures soar to 34C

Temperatures will increase across the United Kingdom over the next few days, rising above the official heatwave threshold. They are likely to peak at 34C on Friday and possibly Saturday too.

This heatwave, for many the third of the summer, will persist into early next week.

Yellow heat health alerts from the UK's Health Security Agency are in force across central and southern parts of England.

Thursday is set to be a warmer day for much of England and Wales with temperatures widely getting up to 24 to 28C.

The hottest areas are likely to be in the south Midlands, central southern and south-east England with temperatures of 30 to 32C.

By Friday, the heat will move into Scotland and Northern Ireland where we could well see the hottest day of the year for both if the temperature exceeds 29.1C and 29.5C respectively.

This is very likely, especially on Saturday.

Across England and Wales, the heat will be widespread on Friday and Saturday with highs of 27 to 33, perhaps 34C.

While this latest heatwave will bring hotter weather for more of us, the highest temperature is unlikely to exceed the highest UK temperature of the year so far of 35.8C set on 1 July in Faversham, Kent.

After the hottest opening day to Wimbledon (32.2C), the women and men's finals over the weekend will also see temperatures exceeding 30C.

But it is likely to fall just short of the hottest Wimbledon finals day which occurred in 1976 when the temperature reached 34.1C.

By Sunday, a cooler north-easterly breeze will develop and which will shift the hottest weather into more central areas of England and east Wales.

Temperatures across the UK will be in the high twenties to low thirties for most.

We will start to see temperatures fall in Scotland and Northern Ireland on Monday as showers and cooler air moves in from the north-west.

Cooler weather is forecast to spread to all parts of the UK on Tuesday meaning temperatures will fall below the heatwave threshold.

Comparing heatwaves each year is a little tricky because they are location dependant and the current Met Office heatwave definition has only been in place since 2019.

A heatwave occurring a some point during the summer is fairly common.

And while this heatwave is being highlighted as the third, Scotland and Northern Ireland missed out on the heatwave at the end of June and beginning of July.

The last time we experienced three heatwaves in the UK was 2022. This was also when the UK saw the highest temperature on record with 40.3C at Coningsby.

In terms of 'number of heatwave days' - when at least one UK location met the current threshold temperature - up to 10 July, there have been 25 days in 2025.

Only 1989 and 2018 had more 'heatwave days' up to this point at 26 and 34 days respectively, according to data from weather website Starlings Roost Weather, external.

While we might expect hotter weather for at least a time during the summer, temperatures over the next few days are around 7 to 10C above average for mid-July.

Climate scientists are clear that heatwaves will become more frequent, more intense and last longer with climate change.