Is the UK getting a heatwave next week? What qualifies as a heatwave - and could there be a snow storm too?

Temperatures are set to climb across parts of the UK next week, with southern England likely to see highs of 27 degrees Celsius by Wednesday, April 30.

This weekend, a weakening weather front will bring some rain to western areas before clearer, finer conditions move in early next week. In the UK, a heatwave is officially declared when temperatures meet or exceed a certain threshold for at least three consecutive days.

These thresholds vary by county, with London, Surrey, and Bedfordshire among those with the higher benchmarks set at 28 degrees Celsius. In Scotland, the threshold for a heatwave is understandably lower at 25 degrees Celsius.

David Oliver, deputy chief meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “Despite media speculation, next week’s conditions 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 degrees Celsius during the middle of the week.”

The UK's highest April temperature was recorded in 1949 when Camden Square in London hit 29.4 degrees Celsius on April 16. Met Office chief forecaster Matthew Lehnert added: “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.”

But bizarrely, other parts of the UK are forecast to be getting snow soon too.

Weather maps from WX Charts suggest that the following week could see counties like Shropshire and Staffordshire could be hit with a cold front just days after the heatwave arrives. Snowfall could begin on Tuesday, May 6, the forecasts suggest, with the likes of North and South Yorkshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Cumbria all set to be affected.