Today looks set to be the hottest day of the year so far, as England and Wales bask in temperatures hotter than parts of Brazil.

The heatwave could push temperatures up to 27C beating Paris, Berlin and even the World Cup host city of Rio de Janeiro.

Players might be thankful for the cooler weather at the tournament that kicked off on Thursday night, with Brazil beating Croatia in the low 20s in Sao Paulo.

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The best of the weather will be on Friday as temperatures are set to dip to a more familiar level over the weekend, with the chance of storms coming in.

George Goodfellow, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, said: “By this evening we're likely to see some thunderstorms and showers, and over the weekend there will be a noticeable drop in temperature.

"It will drop to what we are used to seeing in June, around 21 or 22C, so it should still be a nice weekend."

Shape Created with Sketch. Weather in Britain: Stunning images show off beauty of British landscape Show all 30 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Weather in Britain: Stunning images show off beauty of British landscape 1/30 New Brighton A miniature sandstorm whipped up unusually high winds blows across the breakwater next to the Perch Rock lighthouse in New Brighton 2/30 Weston-Super-Mare Rain clouds gather above the big wheel on the seafront in Weston-Super-Mare Getty Images 3/30 Weymouth Visitors to Weymouth beach spend time in the sunny weather 4/30 London The Palace of Westminster shrouded in fog early this morning PA 5/30 London Lightning flashes in the night sky over South London 6/30 East Renfrewshire A springtime rainbow near to Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire 7/30 London A girl carries a 'Keep calm it's raining' umbrella on Westminster Bridge Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images 8/30 Scotland Northern lights in Aberdeen 9/30 Southend-on-Sea Kite surfers make the most of sunny weather and strong winds off Shoeburyness, Southend-on-Sea 10/30 UK Newhaven lighthouse is battered by waves as high winds from the lastest winter storm continue in Newhaven on the south coast of England 11/30 Somerset Mist lingers around Glastonbury Getty Images 12/30 North Yorkshire Moors Snow covered sheep huddle together on moorland as heavy snow falls on the North Yorkshire Moors near Castleton 13/30 Cornwall Storm waves crash over the Longships Lighthouse just off Lands End in Cornwall 14/30 Edinburgh Perfect weather brought lots of people out to the East Meadow Park to enjoy picnics, barbecues, ball games, music and chat 15/30 London London's rainy day Alamy 16/30 Liverpool A rainbow over the Liverpool waterfront 17/30 Scotland Largs promenade is battered by winds in Largs Getty Images 18/30 Tewkesbury The Tewkesbury Abbey is seen surrounded by flood water 19/30 Bath Snow covers trees in the Parade Gardens in Bath 20/30 Surrey Thorpe Park in Surrey sits in flood water 21/30 London Sunrise in the City of London GETTY IMAGES 22/30 Scotland A train passes along the coast at Saltcoats, as a combination of high tides, heavy rains and strong winds brought severe flooding to many parts of the country PA 23/30 Egham A police officer looks on as a British solider helps a tree surgeon remove a fallen tree in Egham, west of London after high winds brought by a winter storm battered southern England 24/30 Charmouth Beach The rainbow appears to pass in front of the distant Golden Cap, the highest point on England's south coast 25/30 Brighton People relax in deck chairs during the hot weather on Brighton beach AFP 26/30 Wateringbury Flooded property is seen in Wateringbury, southern England Reuters 27/30 Poole Harbour Lightning strikes over Poole Harbour during a thunderstorm in Poole 28/30 Whitley Bay Northern lights at St. Mary's Lighthouse and Visitor Centre, Whitley Bay, North Tyneside Owen Humphreys/PA Wire 29/30 Somerset A policeman on a boat looks at a car submerged on the side of a flooded road leading into the cut-off village of Muchelney 30/30 Princetown Children make their way to school in Princetown, Dartmoor, as the winter weather hits UK PA 1/30 New Brighton A miniature sandstorm whipped up unusually high winds blows across the breakwater next to the Perch Rock lighthouse in New Brighton 2/30 Weston-Super-Mare Rain clouds gather above the big wheel on the seafront in Weston-Super-Mare Getty Images 3/30 Weymouth Visitors to Weymouth beach spend time in the sunny weather 4/30 London The Palace of Westminster shrouded in fog early this morning PA 5/30 London Lightning flashes in the night sky over South London 6/30 East Renfrewshire A springtime rainbow near to Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire 7/30 London A girl carries a 'Keep calm it's raining' umbrella on Westminster Bridge Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images 8/30 Scotland Northern lights in Aberdeen 9/30 Southend-on-Sea Kite surfers make the most of sunny weather and strong winds off Shoeburyness, Southend-on-Sea 10/30 UK Newhaven lighthouse is battered by waves as high winds from the lastest winter storm continue in Newhaven on the south coast of England 11/30 Somerset Mist lingers around Glastonbury Getty Images 12/30 North Yorkshire Moors Snow covered sheep huddle together on moorland as heavy snow falls on the North Yorkshire Moors near Castleton 13/30 Cornwall Storm waves crash over the Longships Lighthouse just off Lands End in Cornwall 14/30 Edinburgh Perfect weather brought lots of people out to the East Meadow Park to enjoy picnics, barbecues, ball games, music and chat 15/30 London London's rainy day Alamy 16/30 Liverpool A rainbow over the Liverpool waterfront 17/30 Scotland Largs promenade is battered by winds in Largs Getty Images 18/30 Tewkesbury The Tewkesbury Abbey is seen surrounded by flood water 19/30 Bath Snow covers trees in the Parade Gardens in Bath 20/30 Surrey Thorpe Park in Surrey sits in flood water 21/30 London Sunrise in the City of London GETTY IMAGES 22/30 Scotland A train passes along the coast at Saltcoats, as a combination of high tides, heavy rains and strong winds brought severe flooding to many parts of the country PA 23/30 Egham A police officer looks on as a British solider helps a tree surgeon remove a fallen tree in Egham, west of London after high winds brought by a winter storm battered southern England 24/30 Charmouth Beach The rainbow appears to pass in front of the distant Golden Cap, the highest point on England's south coast 25/30 Brighton People relax in deck chairs during the hot weather on Brighton beach AFP 26/30 Wateringbury Flooded property is seen in Wateringbury, southern England Reuters 27/30 Poole Harbour Lightning strikes over Poole Harbour during a thunderstorm in Poole 28/30 Whitley Bay Northern lights at St. Mary's Lighthouse and Visitor Centre, Whitley Bay, North Tyneside Owen Humphreys/PA Wire 29/30 Somerset A policeman on a boat looks at a car submerged on the side of a flooded road leading into the cut-off village of Muchelney 30/30 Princetown Children make their way to school in Princetown, Dartmoor, as the winter weather hits UK PA

Simon Partridge, from the Met Office, explained that long spells of humidity lead to a build-up of cloud and heavy downpours.

"We do have a weak front system bringing a lot of cloud with it," he said. "That cloud will thicken through the morning into the late afternoon and early evening, bringing the chance of rain."

It is expected to remain cloudy in Scotland and Northern Ireland, which have missed out on the sunny spell enjoyed by the rest of the UK.

Conditions are set to pick up again from Sunday, but may struggle to reach the high temperatures experienced this week, Mr Partridge said.

The good weather is well-timed for the hundreds of thousands of festival-goers attending the Isle of Wight Festival and Download over the weekend.

Additional reporting by PA