A new weather map shows London can expect scorching temperatures throughout the rest of June. It’s less than a week until the official start of summer on June 21, but already city dwellers can feel the heat and humidity – with climes reaching 29C today (Friday, June 13).
Temperatures today are expected to reach their peak from 5pm to 6pm, although it’s going to be far from plain sailing. Moderate rain is expected to fall down from about 7pm, ahead of a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms to last from 9pm until 1am tomorrow.
Temperatures will take a dip on Saturday, reaching no higher than 24C, and then 23C on Sunday, before accelerating once again, with temperatures in the mid to late 20s throughout next week. A Netweather map shows that that the pattern will continue into the following week, reaching a roasting high of 40C in London on Thursday, June 26 – temperatures not experienced since 2022.
According to Netweather, temperatures will begin to skyrocket on the weekend of June 21 and 22, and continue to rise in above 30C before reaching a staggering 40C on Thursday, June 26 between 3pm and 6pm. The Met Office’s latest long term forecast for London from June 18 through to mid July states: “Temperatures are expected to be above normal, perhaps with some hot spells in the southeast.
“A good deal of dry weather across the UK at first, but becoming more changeable at the start of this period with an increasing likelihood of showers or some longer spells of rain. This pattern continues through early July with changeable conditions bringing a mix of fine and dry periods and some outbreak of rain or showers, which could be heavy and thundery at times. Temperatures are likely to be above average.”
Pollen levels are also expected to ‘very high’ in London and the south east today, and will be ‘high’ tomorrow before reverting to ‘very high’ for the rest of next week.
What happened when temperatures last hit 40C in London
In 2022 we experienced the first year in the UK when temperatures soared to 40C (104F), shattering the previous record by a significant 1.6C. On July 19, 2022 the heat reached 40.3C at Coningsby in Lincolnshire and in London the hottest temperatures recorded that day were 40.2C in St James’s Park and at Heathrow while it hit 40.1C in Kew Gardens and 40C in Northolt.
The London Fire Brigade had to officially declare a “pan-London” major incident because of pressure put on emergency services across the capital. A major blaze in Wennington, in East London, left homes gutted.
More than 100 firefighters tackled a blaze on The Green in Wennington, which took more than nine hours to get under control. Plumes of thick, black smoke could be seen for miles.
The fire was one of the most serious incidents in the capital, as an area of around 40 hectares of grassland, houses, farm buildings and garages were affected. Two detached houses, two semi-detached houses, two rows of terraced houses, two outbuildings, six single-storey garages, 12 stables and five cars were destroyed by the blaze.
Wennington is a small town in the London Borough of Havering. Around 90 buildings near the area were evacuated. Residents described their desperation as they watched the TV to determine if their house had burned down
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