Temperatures in West Midlands set to rise 'day by day' through the week, says Met Office
Temperatures across the UK are set to rise 'day by day' through the rest of the week.
Temperatures across the UK are set to rise "day by day" through the rest of the week with predicted highs "in the low 30s", the Met Office said.
A heat health alert has been issued for the West Midlands from this morning (9 July) until 10am on Tuesday (15 July), by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
Temperatures are hitting around 26C in the region today, with them expected to rise to around 33C on Saturday.
A spokesperson for the Met Office said: "The UK is set to experience a marked rise in temperatures midweek, with much of the country enjoying dry and sunny conditions.
"While the North West remains unsettled, elsewhere it will feel increasingly warm, even hot in places, particularly across southern and eastern regions."
Wednesday is set to be "a largely dry day with sunny spells" - but patchy rain and drizzle is expected to persist across parts of north-west Scotland and possibly the north of Northern Ireland.
Temperatures are however set to climb significantly compared to Tuesday, with a broad swathe of England and eastern Wales reaching between 24C and 26C.
Met Office presenter and meteorologist, Aidan McGivern, said: "There'll be sunny skies for the south and the east first thing Wednesday, but a lot of cloud elsewhere.
"It's mostly dry into the afternoon and it's turning warmer day by day."
By Thursday and Friday, temperatures are expected to settle across parts of eastern Wales and central, southern, and eastern England, the Met Office predicted.
"Actually, it's not the South East where we'll see the highest temperatures," Mr McGivern said.
"It's more towards the north and the west. Certainly compared with what we'd normally expect at this time of year, the biggest anomalies compared with climate will be across the far north and west of the UK.
"And we're talking about widely, temperatures in the high 20s and low 30s.
"So yeah, increasingly warm, if not hot, in many places by the end of the week and into the weekend."
The UK saw its hottest day of the year so far when 34.7C was recorded at St James's Park in central London on 1 July, while the capital also experienced the hottest start to Wimbledon on record.
Provisional Met Office figures also showed England had its warmest June on record last month.
An official heatwave is recorded when areas reach a certain temperature for three consecutive days, with thresholds varying from 25C to 28C in different parts of the UK.