The UK could see the hottest temperatures of the heatwave so far on Friday with the mercury hitting 33C in parts of London and the South East – and there is no sign of it letting up.
The Met Office warned that the capital would bear the brunt of the sweltering conditions, possibly topping 33C which would beat the record for the hottest temperature of the year so far.
Porthmadog in Wales reached 33C exactly on June 28.
Weather forecaster Emma Salter said: “There’s no let up in sight in terms of the dry weather and high temperatures through the week.
“It’s pretty much dry across the board and no sign of rain.”
She continued: “From Monday or Tuesday the really high temperatures will start to gradually come down, but it will still be in the high 20s so it will be ‘less hot’ rather than cooler.”
Scotland might see some rain in the coming days, she said, but the rest of the country could expect it to stay dry until the middle of July.
“There will be some rain perhaps, but then it looks quite settled again through the rest of the month,” she said.
Storms had been predicted for Friday earlier in the week but Salter said these were now looking “very unlikely” and had been removed from the forecast.
On Thursday there were flash floods in Kent following a sudden downpour after a long stretch of scorching weather and uninterrupted sunshine.
The thunderstorm in Tunbridge Wells led to train and bus delays.
Video posted online showed fast-moving water gushing through streets in the town after around 20 minutes of rainfall between 4pm and 5pm on Thursday, the Met Office said.