UK Heatwave: Amber Warning Extended as Cooler Air Approaches

An amber extreme heat warning issued by the Met Office has been extended as scorching temperatures cling on in parts of the UK. But cooler air is set to arrive by the second half of the weekend, ending the spell of record-breaking heat. It will take its time to reach eastern and south-eastern England where it will remain searingly hot throughout Saturday. A Met Office amber warning for extreme heat in effect across south-east England and East Anglia has been extended until 09:00 BST on Sunday. It comes as another hot and humid night is expected for the region on Saturday. Temperatures on Saturday morning were in the mid to high teens for many, although still around 20C for eastern England and there were some overnight thunderstorms too. High pressure, which has been responsible for the sunshine and heat, is starting to retreat eastwards and low pressure is centred to the north-west of the UK, bringing weather fronts in from the Atlantic. The wind will be turning from a southerly to more of a westerly bringing about the change to cooler conditions. Despite a cloudy start, Scotland will see a mixture of sunny spells and scattered showers developing for most, heavy in places and locally thundery. Northern Ireland will also see outbreaks of showery rain and some sunny spells. There will be a moderate to fresh south-westerly wind in the north and west of the UK and across Scotland, Northern Ireland, western Wales and the far north and south-west of England will tend to peak in the low twenties. Central, eastern and south-east England will still be hot with afternoon temperatures in the high twenties or low thirties. Here the winds will be lighter and there will be more strong sunshine with the chance of some isolated thunderstorms. Sunday marks the end of the current heatwave for all of us. Weather fronts will move eastwards overnight into Sunday on south-westerly winds bringing cloud and scattered showers across the UK. Some of the showers could be heavy especially across southern England. There will be some sunshine ahead of and behind the front which will drag behind it the cooler air. Scotland and Northern Ireland will see the mid to high teens, with possibly the low twenties in eastern Scotland.