The county is set to enjoy its first heatwave of the summer as the mercury is expected to reach almost 30 degrees in parts of Kent. A mass of hot air from North Africa is sweeping over Spain, with the heatwave making its wave across Europe.

London and the south-east could break the record temperature so far this year. The Met Office’s highest recorded temperature for the UK this year was 27.5C at Heathrow in Hillingdon, west London, on May 17.

In Gillingham and Maidstone, the top temperature will hit 28 degrees on Friday according to the Met Office before dropping to 23 and 24 degrees respectively the following day. Both towns will be hotter than Crete in Greece with temperatures being a degree lower on June 17.

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It may be tempting to go to the beach at the end of the next week if you can’t handle the heat. The temperature will only reach 23 degrees on Friday in Folkestone and Dover.

Temperatures will hit 27 degrees on Friday in Tunbridge Wells but there will be some cloud today and tomorrow before it gets better later in the week.

Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said: “As we move into the end of the week, that’s when we are starting to pick up the signal for the potential for some significant heat to come up from the south.”

Mr Vautrey added “there is a signal that the heat we have currently got over Spain – I believe they are experiencing rather high temperatures at the moment – could edge its way northwards to south-eastern areas of the UK, at least for the end of the week.”

England and the South East are set to enjoy the “hottest of the weather” because the high-pressure is not extending across the whole of the country.

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Article Source: Kent Live