Scotland to be '˜hotter than Spain' as week long heatwave arrives

Scotland is set to bask in temperatures as hot as Spain next week with the mercury tipped to soar to a sizzling 27C.

The heatwave will peak next Wednesday, which forecasters say could be the hottest day of 2018 after a weekend of wall-to-wall sunshine around the UK. The Met Office has forecast up to 27C in Glasgow by Tuesday followed by “high 20s” in Scotland.

The welcome heat is expected to last for up to a week as the warmth blows in from the Continent – hopefully lasting until the TRNSMT festival hits Glasgow beginning on the weekend of 29-30 June.

The scorchign weather could be set for a return. Picture: TSPL

The blistering 30C peak forecast for elsewhere in Britain will match highs in sunny holiday hot spots in Gibraltar and parts of southern Spain such as Marbella.

Martin Bowles, operational meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “There’s widespread sunshine for several days due. Over the weekend it’s going to stay sunny across the board almost everywhere.

“The temperature will be up a little bit each day.”

Temperatures in Edinburgh are expected to climb to 22C by Monday, signalling an ideal window for weekend barbecues and a boon for vendors at the Royal Highland Show in Ingliston.

Glasgow is forecast to get even hotter, with the temperature gauge peaking throughout the middle of next week.

June is on track to be Scotland’s hottest for 78 years.

Any temperature recorded during the coming heatwave over the 29.4C reached on 1 July, 2015 at Kinloss, Moray, would mark Scotland’s hottest early summer day since 1976.

Scotland’s hottest day of the year so far record should be bettered – the temperature gauge hit 27.1C on 28 May at Dunstaffnage, Argyll.

Today will see highs of 24C and tomorrow will enjoy highs of 25C in England’s south-east and London, but temperatures will be well above average widely, Mr Bowles said.

The average for this time of year is about 21C in London, 18C in Manchester and 17C in Scotland.

“We’re going to be widely four or five degrees above that tomorrow and the next day,” Mr Bowles said.

The forecaster said parts of the UK are likely to reach 30C on Wednesday.

“Monday 27C, Tuesday 28C, it’s quite likely, I’d say more likely than not, that somewhere in the UK on Wednesday will get 30C, probably the south-east of England.”

Temperatures soared to a scorching 29.1C in St James’s Park in London in April.

The forecast comes after Met Office officials tipped Scotland could experience its hottest summer in 12 years, with ­temperatures to reach as high as 33C.