UK to be hotter than Barcelona and Nice this week with 25C highs ahead of Bank Holiday weekend

The UK is set to be hotter than Barcelona and Nice this week with temperatures forecast to climb to 25C.

The Met Office expects Thursday (25 May) to be the hottest day of the year so far, topping Monday’s previous high of 23C, and the warm conditions look set to last into the Bank Holiday weekend.

In Barcelona temperatures are only expected to reach 19C on Thursday, while in Nice temperatures are forecast to climb to 21C, making the UK hotter than some of Europe’s most popular holiday destinations.

The east of Wales and the West Midlands area of England are set to get the warmest weather, with temperatures reaching up to 25C, the Met Office said.

In the South East it will be slightly cooler due to an onshore breeze, but the weather will still be dry and bright.

Temperatures of around 18C are expected in Scotland with the Shetland islands forecast to see temperatures of around 11 or 12C.

The Met Office said “high pressure will continue to dominate the UK weather” leading into the Bank Holiday weekend and the “current signal is for this to continue through next week too”.

The forecaster added: “This means lots of settled weather for many, with dry sunny conditions. There will be spells of cloud and light rain at times in the north west as weak fronts move in but they will quickly dissolve.”

It comes after forecasters predicted an “African plume” was on the way, expecting to bring scorching temperatures of 35C.

But Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern said he wanted to “bat away” some of the most “outrageous suggestions” including the “African plume”, stating this is “not expected to happen this May” and “we are not expecting heatwave thresholds to be met”.

Met Office Chief Forecaster Neil Armstrong added: “If you have heard media hyperbole that a heatwave driven by an African plume will bring intense heat to the UK in the next few days you are going to be disappointed – this isn’t true.

“However, if you are looking forward to a spell of largely fine, sunny and warm conditions across the majority of the UK, then you are going to be in luck.”

For warm weather to be classed as a heatwave, it has to persist for at least three days and be much hotter than expected for the time of year.

In its outlook from Thursday to Saturday (27 May) the Met Office said it will remain “largely settled with further warm sunny spells.”

It added that conditions will be “cloudier in the northwest at times with patchy rain” and “chilly overnight with some fog patches, but these clearing by day.”