Hot weather is expected to bring highs of 24C to the UK as fire services continue to warn of wildfires across the country.
The Met Office said temperatures would peak on Friday in London and south-east England, which could make it the hottest day of the year so far, while temperatures could hit 23C on Thursday.
Dan Stroud, a forecaster at the Met Office, said: “The average for this time of year is around 13C, so it’s going to be about 10C above average on Friday.”
The meteorologist said the high pressure in the UK at the moment effectively acted like a force field, keeping fronts and clouds largely at bay to allow for settled, dry conditions.
England had its sixth driest March after historically low rainfall and Wales its fourth driest since records began in 1836, according to the Met Office. The hottest day of the year so far was on 4 April with a high of 23.7C in Otterbourne, Hampshire.
Firefighters continue to battle big blazes in Northern Ireland and the Scottish fire and rescue service issued “extreme” wildfire warnings for Thursday in south-west, eastern, central and northern Scotland.
London fire brigade (LFB) has also urged caution and warned against using barbecues. The LFB assistant commissioner, Thomas Goodall, said the wildfire risk in the capital was “heightened” due to low rainfall. LFB experienced a 48% increase in call-outs last weekend compared with the same weekend last year.
At least 286 wildfires have hit the UK so far this year, more than 100 above the number recorded in the same period in 2022, when there were record-breaking temperatures and unprecedented wildfire activity.
The National Fire Chiefs Council warned on Saturday it needed “long-term and sustained investment” to cope with the climate crisis and “increased demand” on its services.
Goodall said: “A minority of the fires we’ve attended recently are believed to have been started deliberately. What might seem like harmless fun has the ability to turn into something much more serious, particularly given current weather conditions.”
The LFB assistant commissioner urged parents to ensure their children understood fire risks to help protect open spaces over the Easter holidays and asked Londoners to take steps to ensure they were not inadvertently starting a fire.
He said: “We know that people will undoubtedly want to be out enjoying the warm sunshine, particularly as we head into the weekend. But we’re asking Londoners to behave responsibly to help reduce the risk of fires starting in the first place.”
