Scotland on track for driest summer as African air brings 27C heat

SCOTLAND is on track for one of its driest summers for 108 years '“ as an African roast blows north to deliver a sizzle pushing 27C (80F) this week.

The heat comes with people being urged to stay out of the sun or avoid being out when it is at its strongest. Picture: JP

Scotland saw just 92mm of rain from June 1 to July 16 – down almost half on the usual – Met Office figures show.

A total of under 142mm from June 1 to August 31 would make it this Scotland’s driest summer since records began in 1910, beating 1955, and under 184mm would make it one of the top five driest summers, Met Office records show.

Met Office forecaster Steven Keates said: “The outlook for the next 30 days is more of the same. The West might be a bit more changeable, but will still often have sunny and dry conditions.”

The Met Office said Sunday’s 27C in the North-East will be followed by 23C highs rising to 25C or so – almost 10C above average – on Thursday and Friday for Edinburgh and with 35C is on the cards in England by the weekend.

Meanwhile sun worshippers in the UK have sizzled in the hottest temperature of the year so far, with a scorching 33.3C recorded in England yesterday.

The record breaking heat comes as people are being urged to either stay out of the sun or at least avoid being in the sun when it is at its strongest between 11am and 3pm.

The 33.3C high was recorded at Santon Downham in Suffolk, the Met Office said – and it is set to get hotter.

Porthmadog in North Wales had held the record for the hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures reaching 33C (91.4F) on June 28.

The hottest July day on record is 36.7C (98F), which was reached at Heathrow on July 1, 2015. The mercury hit 34.5C (94.1F) at Heathrow on June 21 last year.

An amber “heat health watch” warning has been issued for parts of England this week.

The amber, or level three, warning is issued when temperatures are predicted to hit 30C (86F) during the day, and 15C (59F) at night, for at least two consecutive days. There is a 90 per cent possibility of heatwave conditions between 9am on Monday and 9am Friday in parts of England, mainly in the south and east.

The heat health watch warning is designed to make local services aware that these conditions are being met, and for them to take action.

Meanwhile, the Met Office has confirmed that several places have had 54 consecutive dry days (starting May 30), including a few which have had less than 1mm of rain in the entire 54-day period.