For the first time ever the Met Office has issued eExtreme heat warnings as the UK bakes with high temperatures felt throughout the country. With thunderstorms forecast to put a dramatic end to the heatwave, when can we expect these showers to reach our shores?
Brits have been basking in some unusually hot weather, with thousands flocking to beaches up and down the country to cool off.
The Met Office has extended its amber warning for extreme heat until Friday.
The original warning was announced on Monday and it covered large parts of Wales, all of south-west England and parts of southern and central England.
The warning was initially supposed to end on Thursday at 11.59pm, but this has been extended to Friday at 11.59pm for Northern Ireland as it will continue to sizzle until the weekend.
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England saw its highest temperature for the year on Tuesday as the mercury soared to 32.2C at Heathrow Airport.
Whilst this heatwave continues, Public Health England is advising Brits to stay out of the sun between 11am and 3pm.
The public should also drink plenty of fluids and avoid excessive alcohol and physical exertion at the hottest parts of the day, which tends to be around midday, it added.
In a dramatic turn of events, Brits should brace themselves for heavy rain and thunderstorms predicted to batter Britain towards the end of the week.
The amber extreme heat warnings will be replaced with yellow rain warnings for some parts of the UK.
Scattered thunderstorms are predicted to set in along with heavy rain for much of this weekend.
Some thunderstorms have already hit parts of the UK as of July 21. The Environmental Agency has 17 flood alerts in place in parts of Derbyshire, London and Nottinghamshire.
By the weekend the weather is forecast to become much more unsettled for England and Wales.
As the heat dissipates, yellow warnings for rain have been issued. The current heatwave is forecast to break up towards the end of the week into the weekend.
The yellow warning for rain covers central and southern parts of England and Wales. It will be in place from early on Saturday morning to midnight on Sunday.
Met Office Deputy Chief Operational Meteorologist David Oliver said: “This yellow rain warning comes as temperatures are set to dip for many areas over the weekend.
“A spell of rain, heavy in places perhaps with some thunder, moves in from the southwest late on Friday and into Saturday.
“This is followed up by an unsettled weekend for much of England and Wales with showers breaking out widely.
“Some very heavy showers or thunderstorms are on the cards, especially during Sunday.
“However, farther north it is set to stay mainly dry with some fine weather, although it will not be as hot as has been seen recently.”
Conditions look set to remain wet into next week for much of the UK with showers or longer spells of rain affecting many areas, but this may be mixed with some drier, sunnier spells.
