SCOTS are being warned to prepare for scorching temperatures with a heat wave on the way – and uncertainty about how long it will last.
The Met Office has said that it will be the third UK heatwave of the year, and temperatures in some of Scotland’s cities are expected to peak at 28C.
After a wetter and cooler spell of weather in early July, temperatures are predicted to climb through this week, hitting highs on Friday or Saturday, depending on where you are.
In Glasgow and Edinburgh, the Met Office is predicting highs of 28C on Saturday, slightly up on temperatures of around 26/27C on Friday and Sunday. The hot weather will coincide with Glasgow’s TRNSMT festival, the largest music festival in Scotland.
Perth is projected to peak at 27C on Friday, while Inverness sees equivalent temperatures on Saturday.
Aberdeen will avoid the worst of the heat but still see highs of around 24C on Thursday ahead of a hot weekend, the Met Office forecasted.
In Scotland, temperatures of above 25C have to be recorded for three days running for it to be considered a heatwave. The thresholds are higher in the English south east.
Speaking of the UK as a whole, Marco Petagna, a senior meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “I think Wednesday is probably going to be the day when we could start to reach the thresholds of 25 to 28 degrees, depending on where you are.
“But of course, you need three days at those temperatures for it to be able to be called a technical heatwave.
“So, although the temperature will be reaching the criteria, we probably won’t actually reach an official heatwave until around Friday, to give the three consecutive days at those temperatures.
Heat will be building this coming week Here's a look at the latest overview for the next five days 👇 pic.twitter.com/JKZ0Ec1085
— Met Office (@metoffice) July 6, 2025
“But temperatures are going to continue to climb as we go toward the end of the week and certainly by Friday and Saturday we could see 30 degrees, perhaps just nudging into the low 30s.
“At the weekend, we could just start to see humidity increasing a little bit as well and nighttime temperatures look like they are going to be, so it will be starting to become more uncomfortable by night.”
The Met Office said it appears as though the UK will avoid the stifling weather of the high 30s and low 40s in the Mediterranean – but it is unknown how long the heat will last.
Petagna said: “It’s a bit of a question mark going through the weekend early next week as to how long the heat will last and how high the temperatures will get, because some models are sort of pushing the heat away a bit more quickly, whereas others keep the heat going.
“At this stage it looks as though certainly into next weekend, we should hold on to hot weather across the south of the UK and temperatures could again certainly get into the low 30s in a few spots.
“And we are going to see some very high pollen and very high UV levels as well.
“But at this stage, we’ve managed to escape some of the very highest temperatures, those seen across Spain and Portugal in particular, where it has reached the mid-40s.”
