TEMPERATURES are on the rise with most of Britain set for another hot and sunny weekend.
Much of the country will stay dry on Thursday, with some much needed rain expected to reach Scotland by the afternoon and possible showers in eastern England.
The rain will move south into northern England, Wales and the Midlands overnight, while hot conditions in the South East could trigger thunderstorms on Friday afternoon.
A Met Office yellow weather warning is in place for the region between 2pm and 11.59pm.
But with the start of the school holidays, it is time to bring out the barbecues again at the weekend, with the mercury expected to rise to up to 30C on Saturday.
Met Office meteorologist Dean Hall said: "The last heatwave ended with a temperature breakdown, but it looks as though we are going back into the heat again.
"The heat will be building into the weekend and early next week.
"But with the increasing heat and humidity there's always a chance of one or two thunderstorms."
Mr Hall said most of the country would enjoy warm and dry conditions with the hot, sunny weather predicted to last into next week when top temperatures could reach 31C.
"It's a very warm weekend with plenty of fine, dry weather around, with the exception being a little bit of cloud in western Scotland and Northern Ireland." he continued.
"But otherwise a good deal of fine, dry weather and very warm if not hot conditions."
The latest hot spell comes after the Met Office said Britain could see a record-breaking summer if temperatures stay above average.
Conditions have been unusually dry, with the UK having just 47mm (1.85in) of rain so far, making it the driest start to summer in modern records which date back to 1961.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here