The UK looks set to enjoy the hottest day of the year so far as England’s football team kick off their Euro 2020 campaign.
The mercury could hit 30C in the South East on Sunday afternoon as England take on Croatia, making it the warmest 13 June on record.
Thanks to a jet stream moving in from the south, parts of the UK will enjoy hotter weather than the likes of Ibiza, Mykonos and even California.
According to the Met Office, Saturday will also be warm for England, Wales and most of Scotland, with temperatures reaching the mid-20s as Wales play their first match against Switzerland.
The spate of hot weather seems largely set to continue into next week, with slightly cooler but mainly dry conditions expected on Monday when Scotland face the Czech Republic.
The hottest temperature so far this year was 28.3C, recorded last Wednesday in northwest London.
“Large parts of the UK will experience some fine weather this weekend due to an area of high pressure moving across the country,” Met Office forecaster Marco Petagna said.
“I'm afraid Saturday won't be plain-sailing for all, as some areas in Northern Ireland and Scotland will see some cloud and a few showers but elsewhere there will be plenty of sunshine.
“Many places will see highs of 25C on Saturday, following a cooler start to the day.”
“[Sunday] will certainly be the hotter of the two days for many in the UK,” Mr Petagna added. “In terms of if it will be the hottest day of the year, it'll be close, I expect some areas have a good chance of hitting at least 29C which would make it the warmest.”
He said the sunshine, dry weather and and warm temperatures forecast were due to a “high-pressure jet stream moving in from the southwest”.
Speaking on Friday ahead of England’s game with Croatia, in which he is hoping to start, Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings suggested his team need to be “streetwise” during the competition in order to counter rival nations being “masters at the dark arts”.
Meanwhile, as Scotland return to the competition following a period of 23 years spent absent from major tournaments, striker Kevin Nisbet suggested his team could “definitely” take inspiration from Wales, who returned from a lengthy hiatus in 2016 to reach the semi-finals, adding: “Anything can happen in the Euros.”
Additional reporting by PA
