After a damp Bank Holiday Monday, summer is here. Well for now, anyway.
Forecasters are predicting a week of warm, dry weather with highs of 24C in some parts of the UK by the weekend.
And the Met Office said its long-range outlook for the months ahead suggest it’s going to be warmer than usual.
It’s prompted bookmakers cut odds on this summer being the hottest on record.
But the Met Office also warns the chance of wetter-than-normal conditions were 50% more likely than normal.
The Weather Outlook, meanwhile, predicts hot days ahead but also stormy spells.
The website’s forecaster, Brian Gaze said: ‘A very warm summer with an increased chance of stormy interludes is favoured.’
Bookmakers Coral cut odds on a record-breaking hot summer from 2/1 to 1/3.
Coral spokesman John Hill said: ‘The odds on a record-hot summer are melting faster than an ice cream in the sun.’
Bank holiday Monday saw up to 30-40mm of rain fall in just one hour in some areas of the country during afternoon thunderstorms.
Temperatures sat at around 14/15C in London and the south east, and a touch warmer further north in Manchester and Leeds.
Edinburgh saw temperatures of around 13 degrees, while Cardiff was milder at around 16C.
The Met has forecast sunny spells for much of England today, with more cloud in the north and Scotland and dry weather for most.
From Wednesday to Friday it’s set to be ‘largely fine and dry with variable amounts of cloud and some sunshine’, and will feel ‘increasingly warm’.
It’s likely, however, rain will move into parts of Northern Ireland and northern
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