The UK is expected to have its hottest day of the year so far during this week, the Met Office predicts.

In particular, the areas of South West of England and Wales would see the highest temperatures of around 26-27C as the weather agency predicts sunshine across the UK.

However, there could be showers and breezes in the South at the end of the week, and the South West may face windier conditions.

The east of England and its coast could see some cloudy weather, but generally, there will be warm sunshine for many this week, Sky News reports.

Saffron Walden Reporter: The South West of England and Wales are expected to get the best temperaturesThe South West of England and Wales are expected to get the best temperatures (Image: Canva)

What will likely be the hottest day of the year this week?

The Met Office expects that Thursday, June 8 will see the hottest temperatures so far of 2023 for the UK.

Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said: "There will be lots of dry weather, with the sunnier skies always in the west and cloudier skies always in the east.

"Going forward, temperatures are going to be similar if not a little bit higher towards the end of the week.

"This west-east split will be continuing with temperatures as well, so in western parts of the UK, temperatures will rise to around the mid-20s while the eastern side of the UK is more likely to see mid to high teens.


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"Particularly on the coast, it will remain quite chilly in the east and quite cloudy at times."

On Sunday (June 4) much of the UK basked in the sun with the highest temperature recorded as 25C in Porthmadog, Wales.

Other places saw temperatures of over 24C, including Castlederg in Northern Ireland, Bournemouth in the south of England, and Glasgow.

What is being done to prepare for heatwaves this summer?

A new high-temperature warning system is being launched by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to try and deal with heatwaves.

It's being introduced in collaboration with the Met Office, which is warning that future heatwaves will be "more intense and last longer".

The Heat-Health Alerting (HHA) service comprises yellow, amber and red responses which will focus on the "health impacts" that very high temperatures can have on the population, especially those that are vulnerable.

The top level of this will be red, which indicates "significant risk to life for even the healthy population".