Following hottest May on record, Britons will bask in above-average temperatures for next few months

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Britons can look forward to a hotter-than-average summer this year, according to forecasters who expect the recent spell of good weather to continue over the next three months.

With the country still basking in the glow of the warmest and sunniest May on record, the Met Office anticipates that the fine weather will last throughout June, July and August.

There will be a slight “blip” of more changeable, rainier conditions over the next week to 10 days, before a return to the clear skies and barbecue weather which the country has been enjoying of late, a spokesman for the national weather service said.

According to the Met Office’s three-month outlook, the country is more likely to experience above-average temperatures in June, July and August than below-average ones.

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The probability that the UK-average temperature for the summer months will fall into the warmest of the Met Office’s five temperature categories is 40%, while the chance it will fall into the coldest category is just 5%.

Last month a total of 245.3 hours of sunshine were measured across the country, more than in any May since records began in 1929. It was also the warmest on record, with an average daytime maximum temperature of 17C (62.6F).

The Met Office said temperatures were likely to be warmer than average overall “both by day and overnight” in the last week of June and first week of July, “and there is a possibility of some very warm or even hot spells”.

The Met Office press officer Charles Powell said the forecaster’s three-month outlook was based on a range of information, including sea surface temperatures, and stressed that it should be treated with caution.

He said Monday is forecast to be “mostly dry and pretty fine with lots of sunshine, and decent temperatures again – possibly up to nearly 23 or 24C”.

However, as the week progresses the country can expect to see a slight drop in temperatures and windier, wetter weather, before a return to higher temperatures and more stable conditions by late June.

“Through the week we’ll notice that the weather becomes a little bit fresher, a bit more changeable and a little windier too,” Powell said.

“We’re going to see things sliding towards a more normal set-up for spring. By the end of the week we’re looking at temperatures of no higher than 18C. On Thursday, we’ll see some pretty wet and windy weather working its way through from the Atlantic.

“From the 20th June onwards there’s a sign that we might start to see things becoming a bit more settled again, a bit drier.”

He added that by the end of the month and start of July weather is expected to “return to where we are now, which is a bit more heat and something a bit quieter”.