Londoners are set to bask in glorious sunshine on Saturday as temperatures soar towards 30C.
The Met Office is expecting temperatures to peak at 30 degrees - making the capital hotter than Barcelona - while some forecasters say highs of 31C are likely.
Forecasters say a surge of heat will spread across London and large swathes of eastern and central England as hot and humid air drifts in from the continent.
However, conditions will begin to cool on Sunday with patches of drizzle and even thunderstorms a possibility.
A spokeswoman for the Met Office said it will be "very warm" and mostly dry on Saturday.
"It will start a little bit cloudy, but the cloud should break up through the course of the morning," she said.
"The temperatures are going to rise quite a lot through the day. We're looking at max temperatures getting up to 29C around London and perhaps even 30C in some places.
"It's going to be very warm, and this could spark the odd shower, but it will mostly remain dry.
"As we go further ahead, we’re watching an area of rain coming up from the south, which looks like it's going to be in the London area by the early hours of Sunday morning, providing some showers or longers spells of rain.
"Howerver, that should clear during the early afternoon and we should see sunny spells re-emerging through the later stages of Sunday.
"It won't be quite as warm as Saturday but still quite pleasant in the afternoon, with temperatures getting up to 25 or 26 degrees."
