Forecasters have announced that the upcoming UK heatwave will be "quite rare," with meteorologists preparing for sweltering temperatures over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend. The UK could experience warmer conditions than Athens, Greece.
Bank Holiday Weekend Forecast
The long weekend is expected to deliver a much-needed taste of summer. The Spring Bank Holiday falls on Monday, May 25, 2026, with temperatures set to rise from Friday, May 22, through Saturday, May 23, and Sunday, May 24.
Weather forecaster Jo Robinson from Sky said: "May has certainly felt disappointingly chilly so far, but change is on the way as temperatures will climb for everyone this week, perfect timing for the bank holiday weekend."
Temperature Predictions
Robinson added: "Friday and Saturday look to be the warmest days, with temperatures reaching the mid to high twenties across England and Wales, peaking at around 28C in the south. There's a small chance of reaching 30C, which is quite rare for May. The last time the UK recorded 30C in May was back in 2012, when Inverailort in Scotland reached a whopping 30.9C."
According to the Met Office, a heatwave is officially defined as a period of at least three consecutive days when the temperature stays above a specific threshold. In London, this threshold is 28C.
Netweather Insights
Netweather TV has also hinted at the stifling conditions ahead as the summer sun finally arrives. Nick Finnis, writing in a Netweather blog post, advised: "There are differences between the weather models over how warm it will be over the Bank Holiday Weekend, particularly on Saturday."
Finnis explained that the variation is due to how models handle an upper trough and surface cold front moving in from the west and whether it clears through on Saturday. The shift would clear the very warm southerly plume and introduce cooler air from the west. These model differences are visible on Netweather TV's temperature projections for Saturday.
