UK braced for heatwave later this week but only 'half' of England will be hit

The UK will be "torn in half" by a heatwave in May - with May 12 set to be the day it kicks off across England with 20C highs. London, Birmingham and Cardiff are all expected to see warm weather next weekend as the mercury climbs and climbs.

But the north will remain cool with temperatures likely to sit between 10C and 15C, WX Charts, which uses Met Desk data, has predicted. The projections from WX Charts come in its daily weather maps and charts, which have emerged ahead of next weekend.

The current outlook for Thursday onwards, according to the Met Office, reads: "High pressure dominates for the rest of the week, bringing settled conditions and lots of dry weather. Feeling very warm with light winds. Mild overnight with fog patches possible."

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And the Met Office continues, giving its outlook from May 11 to May 20: "The coming weekend will probably remain fine for many, with some spells of sunshine for most and it will continue to feel warm, especially in parts of the south and east where temperatures are likely to remain in the mid-20's.

"Some areas of cloud are likely, especially around some coasts and perhaps later in northwest Scotland, with an increasing risk of a few showers here too. Following this spell of pleasant May weather though, it's all change the following week with conditions likely to turn more changeable across the country, with rainfall likely to be above average in most areas.

"Some of the rain is likely to be heavy and a few thunderstorms are also likely. Temperatures will return back closer to normal for May." The BBC Weather team goes on: "Temperatures are likely to rise slightly on Thursday, and from Friday to Sunday, high pressure could shift more towards western Europe, with warmer south-east or southerly flows developing. It could rise well above 20C in England and Wales, but this pattern could make it even wetter and windier in north-western and western areas of the UK."