UK weather: Health alert issued as temperatures may hit 32C

It is possible that a few places in England will reach heatwave criteria, where temperatures exceed the Met Office defined temperature threshold on three consecutive days, which varies depending on where in the UK you are.

In the London area that threshold is 28°C. For Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and most of northern and western England it is 25°C.

If nowhere in Scotland reaches 25C on Tuesday, it will be the first July since 2010 that temperatures there have not reached this level.

The drier weather for much of the country is expected to break on Thursday, when a yellow warning has been issued by the Met Office for heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Most of southern England, the Midlands, parts of Wales and much of northern England are covered by the alert, which warns of “lightning, hail and gusty winds” that could lead to some disruption.

It comes into force at 00:00 BST on Thursday and ends at 23:59.

The rest of the month is expected to bring breezy conditions to the north west, and drier and brighter weather to the south east.

A more widely settled period is expected towards the middle of August.