Britons are set to flock to beaches and parks today in blast of 75F heat

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Britain is set to receive one final blast of summer next week as rising temperatures boosted by a plume of warm air from the Mediterranean push mercury levels to 75F. 

Hundreds of revellers began to descend upon the nation’s sun-soaked outdoor spaces today as the country prepares for a week of balmy weather and scattered sunshine. 

In Brighton, sun-seekers flocked to the beach this morning to enjoy the warm weather while others were spotted bathing in the sun in St James’s Park, London. 

The warm weather saw temperatures soar to 75F (23.8C) across the south of England and 77F (25C) in central England and Wales and is expected to rise to a sizzling 82.4F (28C) for London and the South East by Tuesday. 

The mercury is expected to exceed the average for September, which is 64.4F (18C) in the UK.  

The blast of heat comes after figures from the Met Office showed Southern England experienced its third dullest August since records began, beaten only by 2008 and 1950, with the region receiving only 129 hours of sunshine last month compared to its usual average of 192.5 hours.    

But it is believed that the fall-out from Hurricane Ida which has devastated parts of the US will force a change in the UK after weeks of dull grey skies and rain caused by high pressure. 

Annie Shuttleworth, a Met Office forecaster said: ‘We are expecting temperatures to rise at the beginning of the new week.

‘Sunday will be a cloudy and wetter day for much of Scotland and Northern Ireland while those further south will see bright and sunny conditions with temperatures in the mid-twenties.

‘Despite a cloudy start to Monday, conditions will be clear and bright with hot temperatures for large parts of England and eastern Wales as the result of continental air moving in from the south.

‘This air will start to push through the country on Tuesday and Wednesday, dragging temperatures as high as 29C (84.2F) for parts of the south-east while Scotland and Northern Ireland will also move into the mid-twenties.

‘It’s going to be very warm for the time of year and could even be rather uncomfortable for people trying to sleep at night, with temperatures remaining at around 18C (64.4F) during the evening.’ 

Ms Shuttleworth said this meant a ‘decent chance’ of an official heatwave for parts of central England and eastern Wales, where the temperature threshold needed over three days is 77F (25C).

However, she warned of an area of low pressure moving in from the west on Wednesday afternoon, bringing with it grey and wet conditions for much of the UK on Thursday.

Thunderstorms are also expected in the second half of the week to conclude the hot spell. 

A spokesman said: ‘Summer may not be over just yet and with a mini heatwave on its way, the chances of this month ending as a record hot September have increased significantly.’     

Meteorologists predicts that while Hurricane Ida won’t be directly felt in the UK, the weather system’s force would have an impact on the weather we will experience.

Earlier this week, Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge told The Sun: ‘What these hurricanes do is bring warm humid air into the North Atlantic, which can have the effect of pepping up weather systems already in place.

‘Although we’re not going to see the effects directly, it’ll invigorate the jet stream.’

‘London and the south east are likely to benefit the most, but the majority of the country will hopefully see temperatures in the mid-20s. 

‘I have to say there is some uncertainty about how hot it will be, and it won’t be the case for the whole country.’

It comes after August went down as the third cloudiest month on record for Southern England after the region received only 129 hours of sunshine.

Meanwhile East Anglia also experienced the third cloudiest August on record with the area seeing just 127.2 hours of daylight compared to the average 195.7 hours usually seen during the month.

For the UK overall – August was the 12th dullest on record with 127.4 hours of sunshine – the figure is 78 per cent of the 163 hours of sun usually seen.   

Despite the gloomy weather, Tyndrum in Stirling, Scotland, recorded the highest temperature in the UK so far this month after it hit 80.2F on August 25. 

Last month, the south of England saw one of the dullest and wettest summers in ten years while the north of England and Scotland experienced unusually warmer temperatures and its driest summer since 1869. 

The capital and central England, which saw temperatures that were only 0.25C higher than the long-term average, also saw the regions flooded after it was hit by heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Data also showed the City of London saw 117 per cent of its usual August rainfall by August 20.  

Heavy rain and hail has already caused ‘significant problems’ for harvests, according to the National Farmers Union (NFU).

A spokesperson for the union said this year’s harvest was delayed due to cold spring temperatures, but it’s too early to say how much profits will be impacted and whether consumers could see a rise in food prices.

They said: ‘The localised heavy rain and hail has caused significant problems in certain areas.

‘It’s a mixed picture because for many areas they just haven’t had many clear dry days in a row to harvest, so things have been a bit ‘stop-start’ with harvesting.

‘Where they have been harvesting, grain has often had to be dried because the better weather hasn’t lasted long enough to get moisture levels down to where they need to be.

‘The problems will grow if the unsettled weather continues because it will start to impact on the quality of the grain if it goes on too long, especially for crops like milling wheat.’