Temperatures to hit 20C in parts of UK today as mini heatwave scorches amid 'blood rain'

dailystar.co.uk:

UK are set to see scorching temperatures of 20C today as a mini heatwave takes hold of the country.The warm spell follows relatively drab conditions for most yesterday with patchy showers and grey skies.'Blood rain' was even reported yesterday in parts after a wave of Saharan dust swept across Europe.

There are hopes that the glorious weather today could last into the weekend, allowing us to make full use of it.Netweather’s Ian Simpson has said: "It will turn very warm for the time of year away from south and east-facing coasts, with highs of 17 to 19C in parts of England and perhaps even 20C locally."It is expected that the warmest temperatures will be down south, although northern regions are also expected to be hotter than usual for this time of year.

Met Office meteorologist Alex Deakin explained: “The weather system pulls away through Wednesday night and into Thursday, and a high starts to establish itself.“Temperatures will start to pick up even in northern parts.“With high pressure sitting over the UK it means fine and sunny conditions over the weekend.“Friday could be a bit breezy in places, and the breeze in terms of its strength and direction will play a big part.“We could see a bit of an easterly breeze along the coast on Saturday, but it will feel very pleasant on Friday and into the weekend.”This follows heated debate between forecasters over a potentially boiling 28C heatwave hitting the UK in April.

The claims where initially made by Jim Dale, a senior meteorologist at British Weather Services, who reckons the hot summer weather is coming early this year.