Glastonbury weather forecast: Temperature soars to sweltering 30C before thunderstorms

The UK remains gripped in a sizzling heatwave that has seen parts of the south east of England reach up to 30C.

Brits have spent the weekend hitting the beach or cramming into parks for picnics in some long overdue fine weather.

And while scattered thunderstorms and brief downpours have seen a break in the glorious conditions for some, forecaster say "sunnier" conditions are likely with temperatures set to remain in the mid-to-high 20s for another week.

Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said: "The weather will try and settle down on Tuesday and mid-week. But it will maintain this well-above-average temperature. Most of the UK will meet heatwave criteria."

However - thousands will be looking further ahead, as Glastonbury festival goers hope the sunshine and balmy conditions hold on until next weekend.

Some years have been blighted by mud at the famous Glastonbury festival (Adam Gray / SWNS.com)

The festival has become the largest green space open air festival in the world, attracting more than 150,000 festival goers over 3 or 4 days each year.

Some years the fields campsites have been blighted by ankle deep mud - which doesn't seem to dampen revellers spirits too much - however, this year is looking to be more of a fine and sunny affair, while perhaps cooling off a little.

The Met Office said until June 23, although it will be "fine and sunny for most", conditions will feel more bearable than in recent days.

The heatwave isn't quite over yet according to the Met Office (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)

However, forecasters added that between June 23 and July 8 "temperatures are more likely to be above average in general" with the majority of the country to feel "warm or very warm" and "drier than average overall".

The Met Office's long-range forecast for the duration of Glastonbury says: "The first half of the period will most likely be fine and settled with long periods of sunshine across most of UK."

But it says showers or thunderstorms "may occur" towards the west and south of the country.

Some areas are experiencing a thunderstorm amid the heatwave (Getty Images)

It adds: "Light to moderate easterly winds are likely to be dominant and temperatures are likely to be warm to hot during the day and overnight."

"The looks good for Glastonbury - it's most likely to be fine and dry up until the end of June, with a good deal of sunshine and high temperatures.

"It will be warm, not necessarily that humid, but there is still a chance of the odd thunderstorm."