Tropical Storm Debby could help push temperatures in London into the mid-30s next week, forecasters have signalled.
The storm has soaked parts of the US bringing “potentially historic rainfalls” to coastal Georgia and South Carolina.
Met Office forecasters say the weather system could play a part in bringing temperatures of around 30C or even higher to parts of the UK.
Deputy chief meteorologist Nick Silkstone told Sky News: "Debby in North America will help to strengthen and veer the direction of the jet stream and this means this ribbon of air is likely to shift further to the south.
"This southwards dip in the jet stream will likely be located across the mid-Atlantic this weekend and early next week, allowing southwesterly flow across the UK.
"During this time a hot and perhaps very hot airmass could develop and be advected into the southeast of the UK.
"On balance it now looks likely that temperatures will reach 30C, with around a 30% chance that temperatures could reach the mid-30s Celsius early next week.
"Debby plays a role in developing this forecast hot spell."
The influence felt by Storm Debby will be felt indirectly in the UK, through its influence on the jet stream.
Currently forecasters predict the weather in London will turn “much warmer and more humid, perhaps becoming hot by Sunday,” with temperatures of around 29C likely.
However, this is not likely to be the case for most of the country.
The far northwest will likely remain fairly cool with sunny spells and a few showers, whereas hot conditions could develop across the southeastern half of the UK, with a chance of thunderstorms, forecasters said.
In the US, at least six people have died in Florida and Georgia in the wake of Storm Debby, which is expected to linger over the southeastern and mid-Atlantic coasts for days.
"Debby is expected to produce potentially historic rainfall totals of 10 to 20 inches (25 cm and 51 cm), with maximum amounts of 25 inches (63.5 cm), bringing areas of catastrophic flooding across portions of the eastern half of South Carolina, and southeast North Carolina through Friday," US forecasters said.
The governors of those states have declared states of emergency.
