Edinburgh weather: Temperature peaks at 22C on Thursday but it’s due to get hotter

Temperatures in Edinburgh peaked at 22C today but it’s set to get warmer in the city on Friday and Saturday.

Met Office forecaster Steven Keates said Saturday is likely to be the warmest day in the Capital this week with 24C or 25C predicted.

Mr Keates said Thursday has been Scotland’s warmest day of the year so far, with the mercury hitting 26.9C in Tyndrum - the highest reading of the day.

Edinburgh forecast

It's been warm and sunny in Edinburgh today.

Temperatures reached 22.1C at Gogarbank at 10am on Thursday, Edinburgh’s maximum for the day.

Mr Keates says Thursday evening will stay warm with blue skies and that there may be some cloud after midnight.

He says any early mist on Friday morning will burn off quickly and another “glorious” day will follow with blue skies and sunshine.

Temperatures of up to 23C can be expected to the south-west of Queensferry tomorrow but a sea breeze will likely keep it cooler by the coast at Leith.

However, Mr Keates says that if the breeze “does not kick in” it could get much warmer across the city.

By comparison on Friday, temperatures in Glasgow could reach 28C.

He said that on Saturday, temperatures are expected to hit 24C - possibly 25C - in Edinburgh with a subtle change in wind direction.

But Saturday may also feel more humid in the Capital with a bit more cloud and even some risk of heavy showers. Thunderstorms are possible but unlikely.

Mr Keates said there will likely be a fresher feel in the air on Sunday, with temperatures set to drop slightly to 18C or 19C.

He says the weather is expected to be more typical of a Scottish summer from the start of next week.

Why the warm weather in Scotland?

Much of Europe has been experiencing very hot weather this week, but Mr Keates says the good weather here is only partly because of this.

The other reason is that a high pressure air mass affecting Scotland originated somewhere between the Faroe Islands and Iceland.

He said: “We were not expecting it to originate north-west of the UK.”

Mr Keates said the latest spell of warm weather is not as hot as the end of June last year in Scotland, when temperatures reached the low 30s in some areas.

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