Britain’s record heatwave will peak today before the historic African plume erupts in a deluge of thunderstorms.
Temperatures in parts are expected to nudge 40C after the mercury yesterday topped 36.1C in Gosport, Hampshire – the highest recorded for June.
Soaring humidity is making it feel even hotter, with the mercury hovering above 20C during stifling tropical nights.
Today will see records once again come under threat before the heat dome sizzling in from North Africa and the Continent finally wanes.
Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: “Temperatures on Thursday are set to be even higher for a fair few of us, and this is due to high pressure to the east of the UK.
“That is allowing us to pull in hot air from the south and that hot air is going to push further and further northwards.“It is humid and that is going to make it feel pretty uncomfortable, unbearable, for some.
“Down the western side of the UK, it will be a few degrees hotter than Wednesday, and down the eastern side of the UK there will be a fresher breeze.
“There is a greater chance of seeing showers across England and Wales on Friday, and some of them could be heavy, and across Scotland we have persistent and heavy rain, with some rumbles of thunder.”
While Scotland and parts of northern Britain will get some respite from the heat, elsewhere the furnace will rage on.
Temperatures today will soar back into the high 30Cs with 40C, though unlikely, not out of the question.
As the heat burns off, volatile atmospheric conditions will drive heavy, persistent and thundery downpours.
Mr Burkill said: “There is more rain coming across northern Ireland initially and then feeding in across a larger area of Scotland, and to the north, the rain could be heavy and persistent, and this is partly due to air coming up from the south.
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“Temperatures are likely to peak at 37C, 38C, 39C, with 40C not out of the question, but it is not expected.
“On Friday, eastern parts are still into heatwave threshold, perhaps into the high 30Cs, which is why ye might need to extend the extreme heat warning.
“There is fresher weather to come into the weekend, but before then we have a lot of hot weather to come.”
Extreme and unprecedented heat is not confined to Britain, with France recording its hottest day ever after hitting 44C.
The UK heatwave is an extension of a killer high-pressure heat dome smothering western Europe.
As Britain cooks, experts have resounded warning bells for hasty adaptation to a rapidly warming climate.
Chris DeWeese, lead writer for The Weather Channel, said: “This extreme heat reflects a troubling trend: Europe has become the world’s fastest-warming continent, heating at twice the global average since the 1980s due to shifting weather patterns, reduced air pollution, shrinking snow cover and its Arctic geography.
“Unfortunately, these deadly hot summers are expected to worsen as the continent grapples with a fast-changing sense of what ‘summer’ means.”
Jim Dale, meteorologist for British Weather Services and founder of extreme-weather educational programme ‘The Shield’, said: “We have to accept, now, that these temperatures are not normal for the UK, and with them happening more frequently, climate change is something that can’t be ignored.
“This will happen again, and worse, and we must address the threat of global warming.”
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