Hot weather maps show every day UK will swelter as 31C July heatwave begins

Britons have already been warned to brace for 2025's third sizzling heatwave - but how many days of July will be baking hot? The UK has had its hottest day of the year so far last Tuesday 1st July, with temperatures hitting 35.8C (96.4F) at Faversham, Kent - the highest temperature of the year so far.

The Met Office said the UK's third heatwave of 2025 is set to start today - with a heatwave classed as three consecutive days where the temperature hits 25C for much of the UK, with slightly higher numbers for the South and East, and rising to 28C in London. Met Office, BBC and WXCharts.com weather maps give slightly differing long range forecasts but this is what we can conclude about July's most scorching days.

With London expected to max at 27C today, Wednesday is not expected to be classed as the start of the heatwave. Instead it is due to begin on Thursday this week with the mercury expected to hit 31C in the south-east, 27C in the west and Wales and 25C in the north.

Friday 11 is also in heatwave territory with London and south-east 30C, and 28C in Manchester, the Midlands, Liverpool and Yorkshire - while Saturday 12 is slightly cooler but still a heatwave with swathes of the UK 31C-29C.

Sunday 13 continues the heatwave with London 30C, Cardiff 27C, Manchester 29C and Plymouth a cooler 23C - while Monday 14 hotter again with central England ranging from 33-30C with 29C as far north as Leeds.

Tuesday 15 and Wednesday 16 are NOT likely to be classed as a heatwave as the hot weather briefly breaks for a short - but no doubt welcome - cool spell as temperatures drop to 25C in London and 16-19C in many parts of England and Wales.

But the heat returns on Thursday 17 with the south, East Anglia and the east coast again 27-28C - so in heatwave territory - with the south-west 24-25C.

Friday, 18 July, is hotter still with Hull seeing 29C, the south 26-27C and central England 27C - while Saturday 19 is heatwave again with 28-29C in the south and again the main temperatures all the way up to Yorkshire 27C.

On Sunday 20 and Monday 21 the heatwave continues with most of England above average temperatures - apart from the south east.

But Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 23 the temperatures plunge out of heatwave as the heat drops to around 17-25C.

With no accurate temperature forecasting for the end of July, we will have to wait to see if the rest of July sees the sizzling heat making a baking return.

Ahead of the third heatwave, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued a number of heat-health alerts across England.

The alerts cover the East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South East, and South West. They come into effect at 10am on Wednesday, July 9, and are set to remain in place until 10am on Tuesday, July 15.

Explaining a new 'third heatwave' map in a video posted on social media, Met Office meteorologist Alex Deakin said: "We're likely to see a heatwave across much of England, the east of Northern Ireland and eastern parts of Scotland as well.

"To the west of Northern Ireland and the north west of Scotland, we may not have three days in a row, but temperatures here are also going to rise – so this hot spell will be more widespread than the last one."

The Met Office has said that even areas that don’t quite qualify will still experience significantly above-average temperatures, with parts of East Wales, southwest England and Yorkshire potentially recording temperatures 8-9C above normal.

Met Office's Deputy Chief Meteorologist Dan Holley said: “High pressure from the Atlantic will gradually exert its influence over the UK this week.

"We’ll see temperatures build day-on-day, with the potential for hot conditions to become quite widespread by the end of the week and into the weekend."

He also noted that this next heatwave is due to carry on for longer than the previous ones in 2025.

"This heatwave is likely to last longer than previous ones so far this summer, and affect a wider area, with the focus for some of the highest temperatures displaced across more central and western areas at times. In addition, pollen and UV levels will also be very high in some areas," he explained.

On Wednesday, the expert added that temperatures "could reach up to 28C in parts of England, climbing to 30C on Thursday and 32C by Friday. By this stage, heatwave criteria are likely to be met in parts of England and Wales, and in parts of Scotland over the weekend."

While the high temperatures are likely to carry on into the weekend, in particular in areas away from coasts with onshore winds. "Reaching the low 30s in portions of England and Wales, and accompanied by rising humidity and warmer nights," Dan said.

While forecasters have told Brits to expect the third heatwave of summer, the Met Office has said not all UK areas topped "heatwave thresholds" during the recent hot spells.

Deakin added: "Many parts of the UK have only really experienced one heatwave and some haven't experienced any heatwaves at all."

In the first heatwave that hit the UK in the middle of June, from June 16 to June 21, large parts of Wales and England experienced an official heatwave, but parts of eastern England and most of Scotland didn't reach that threshold, with only tiny pockets across Northern Ireland.

More recently, during the June 27-30 hot spell, the Midlands, southeast and northeast England saw another official heatwave. But many areas, including most of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, remained below the threshold.

England's hottest ever temperature came in a heatwave in July three years ago when Coningsby, in Lincolnshire, recorded 40.3C (104.5F) on 19th July 2022.

Met Office projections at the start of the season suggested an increased chance of a hot summer and heatwaves, something that we know is being made more likely by climate change.

And new weather maps from WXCharts show that for large swathes of the country, these roasting hot conditions are set to last for at least up to 23 July.

The Met Office's long-range forecast from 22 July to 5 August warns of further risk of "heatwaves".

It states: "A continuation of the broad themes from earlier in the month at first, with high pressure probably dominating the south and lower pressure more favoured to affect the north and northwest.

"Temperatures are likely to end up above average overall with a continued, and perhaps higher than normal, chance of occasional hot spells or heatwaves, especially further to the southeast.

"However, around the turn of the month, there is a signal for perhaps more widely unsettled weather to develop, though the details of this remain rather uncertain."