Britain is on track to see temperatures top 30C well before summer, a top forecaster has said, as unseasonably warm weather breaks records across the nation today
Britain could see its warmest temperatures since the 2022 heatwave in the months ahead, a forecaster said(Image: James Maloney/Lancs Live)
A top weather forecaster has told the Mirror it is ‘inevitable’ temperatures will top 30C this spring as Britain braces for the warmest day of the year so far.
Meteorologists are ready for seasonal records to tumble across the country today as the mercury soars towards 26C – a temperature usually expected in August, not April. Jim Dale, a forecaster for British Weather Services, said it won’t be long before things get even warmer – with “late spring” likely to see conditions slide up into the 30Cs.
It might just be the first markers of a sweltering summer, with growing predictions of a “Super El Niño” – a rare once-in-a-century weather event that builds in the Pacific before warming the sea and atmosphere around the world.
Temperature anomaly map for today, showing conditions significantly warmer than average(Image: Met Desk)
READ MORE: Japanese knotweed removal laws as new alert is issued for spring 2026READ MORE: UK weather map shows area where the mercury is expected to peak at 26C TODAY
Reacting to today’s 26C highs, Mr Dale said: “These temperatures are more likely to be seen in June, July, and August time, not now.
“In this case, 30C won’t be reached today in my opinion, but a very impressive 26C is probably the top of the shop (London area… Kew Gardens, Heathrow, St James’s). That’s almost double the average temperature for this time of year, following the highest April 7 temperature on record. However, all of this heat won’t last even into tomorrow, and we probably won’t see anything similar for at least a fortnight going forward.”
He added: “I do think we will see 30C as the late spring and early summer unfolds, and on more than just the odd occasion.”
Sunseekers are already soaking up summer temperatures – but it’s only April(Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)
“We saw 30 degrees several times last year, and nothing has changed as far as climate change is concerned in terms of the direction of travel, fossil fuels, etc. You’ve just got to get the right synoptic situation for that to occur, and we’ve got one now, which is pushing up temperatures as we speak. There will certainly be local or regional records broken for the day itself, just as there were yesterday – an 8th of April all-time record is likely to fall.
Looking further ahead to the summer, forecaster Jim said it’s a “50/50” bet as to whether Britain sees the mercury reach 40C for only the second time ever.
Explaining what would need to happen for temperatures to go this high, he said: “You need a day like today with an airflow from the south to make that happen. You also need dry ground. You need a little bit of a run-in – not just an odd day, but a few days in a row, maybe at least a week – so that the sea, the land, and the surrounding air are already hot.
“That’s when you can reach 40C. I’m not saying it will happen, because there is an element of luck involved. But, we’re already seeing records falling and weird things happening across the globe, so there’s no reason to think that, in the right scenario, we won’t see something similar.”