Weather says a London weather heatwave could return next week, with 29C forecast for Friday after temperatures eased to around 24C over the weekend. People in London are set for another run of warm, dry days before the city reaches the local heatwave threshold again.
As of 12pm on Tuesday, Weather put London at 26C on Wednesday, 25C on Thursday and 29C on Friday. The same forecast points to highs of 25C over the weekend, then temperatures above 28C again next Wednesday, 29C next Thursday, and 28C on Friday and Saturday next week.
Weather and the threshold
London must reach 28C for three or more consecutive days to count as a heatwave locally. On that rule, next week is the first spell that puts the city within reach of a fourth heatwave of the year. The forecast path matters because a single hot day is not enough; the city needs the temperatures to hold across several days.
The forecast also gives a short answer to the practical question for People in London: plan for heat, then check whether the temperatures stay high enough into the middle and end of next week. Weather says a fourth heatwave of the year can be expected in a little more than a week’s time.
London dry spell after June 27
The heat comes after London had temperatures above 28C for a fortnight before the recent cooler spell. The last proper drops of rain fell on June 27, and Weather predicts no rain until Friday, July 31, which would take the city to 32 days without any rain.
That stretch would add to the wider dry pattern across England. The Met Office says the south-east of England has seen the longest unbroken spell of no recorded rainfall in 30 years, while millions have already been hit with hosepipe bans because of drought conditions across much of the country.
Will London stay dry
There is one complication in the forecast. Weather says London is due some showers on Friday and drizzle throughout Sunday morning even as several days next week are expected to stay above 28C. That means the hotter spell does not arrive as a clean run of cloudless weather, and the rain could be brief rather than enough to end the dry pattern.
London Fire Brigade has already warned of wildfire risks as green spaces in the capital turn into tinder boxes in the warm weather. Larry at Number 10 is another named figure in the wider story, but the practical issue for London is simpler: several hot days are lining up again, and the city could move into a fourth heatwave if the temperature stays high long enough.
