UK weather: Higher temperatures on the way with London set to bask in 29C heat on Friday

The Met Office is forecasting a warmer end to the working week with London expected to bathe in temperatures up to 29C on Friday.

Despite it being July, it has been a cool and rather wet few days with some parts of the country having had weather warnings for rain at the start of this week.

On Tuesday, a yellow weather warning from the Met Office was still in place for rain in the North East and the east of Scotland - including Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee - until 8pm.

Spray and flooding means difficult driving conditions and potentially road closures, the organisation warned, adding that there was a small chance some homes and businesses could be flooded.

Elsewhere, Tuesday was expected to be a mainly dry for many, but with temperatures not rising above 21C.

The same picture will continue into Wednesday but with most places seeing a “fine and dry” day with “decent amounts of sunshine”, said the Met Office - and temperatures rising up to 24C in the capital come the evening.

The increase in temperatures is an indicator toward a warmer end to the working week, said the organisation.

“Temperatures [will be] near normal but becoming very warm in the South East,” said a spokesperson.

On Thursday, at 4pm, the mercury is forecast to hit 26C in London, followed by 23C in Cardiff and 22C in Manchester. It will be slightly cooler in other areas, such as Plymouth and Glasgow where it will be 18C.

A similar trend will continue into Friday, with the warmest weather again in the capital, where temperatures could peak at 29C at 4pm.

On Thursday, Alex Burkill, Met Office meteorologist, said: “As we go into the afternoon, some decent bright, sunny spells and some warmer air across us as well and so temperatures likely to be a bit higher, perhaps, than on Wednesday with 26, maybe even a little bit higher than that, so feeling particularly warm.”

And on Friday, he said parts of the country in the sunshine will “feel pretty warm”.

But on the weekend, Mr Burkill said there was “uncertainty as to the detail” of the weather, adding that low pressure was likely to lead to cool conditions with some wind and rain.