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UK weather: Britain basks in last of summer sun as temperatures top 27C

People enjoy the sunshine on the beach at Weston-super-Mare, as temperatures soar this weekend: PA
People enjoy the sunshine on the beach at Weston-super-Mare, as temperatures soar this weekend: PA

The UK is enjoying the last rays of summer sun with temperatures topping 27C at Valley near Holyhead in Wales – more than 10C higher than average for this time of year.

The unseasonably warm weather is due to a high pressure system and warm southerly winds. Valley is 40 miles from Porthmadog which is the next warmest place in the UK with the mercury hitting 25C.

“It’s quite unusual to get temperatures into mid to high twenties at this time of the year,” Mark Wilson, a meteorologist at the Met Office told The Independent.

“The average for this time of year in this part of the world is 16C so the fact it’s 10 degrees warmer than the average is pretty impressive.”

However, it is not unprecedented. The highest temperature in September came from Bawtry in south Yorkshire where temperatures reached 35.6C on 2 September 1906.

“We think today is going to be the peak of the sunshine and very high temperatures,” said Mr Wilson.

“From tonight and through tomorrow it becomes a lot more unsettled throughout the UK as we see a breakdown of the weather into showers or longer spells of rain. This will happen tonight and into Sunday.”

This is due the remains of Hurricane Humberto which are set to hit the western side of Britain on Saturday night. Meteorologists say the category 3 storm has left Bermuda and is travelling across the Atlantic towards the UK.

Much of the tropical weather system has dissipated but it is still likely to bring an area of low pressure that will see an end to the current pleasant conditions.

Meteorologist Becky Mitchell said: “There is a lot set to change tonight. We have got some heavy rainfall coming, mainly in the west. It will come in from Northern Ireland, Wales and western parts of England.

“The rain is set to come in tonight and it will be quite cloudy and wet from tonight into tomorrow, where we will start to see that heavy rain arrive.”

She added: “We have got a low pressure system coming from the Atlantic from tomorrow that will drive the rain in from the west.

“Into next week it’s going to be quite unsettled. Some of these weather systems are the remnants of Hurricane Humberto.”

The meteorologist said that the warm air from the continent that caused Saturday’s sunny weather is likely cause more rain as these two weather systems collide.

“It means it’s quite a moist atmosphere, which often brings some heavier rain. The outlook into the start of October does look to stay largely changeable,” she said.

The highest recorded temperature last September was 26.5C (80F) at Cambridge Botanic Gardens.

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