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Will Scotland be part of this week's heatwave?

Christopher Blanchett
Senior weather presenter, BBC Scotland
PA Media Scots at Loch Lomond queue up for an ice cream in front of an ice cream vanPA Media
Scotland could see its warmest day of the year and potentially its first heatwave since 2023

Temperatures are set to soar across the UK this week, with many areas expected to meet the official threshold for a heatwave.

In Scotland, the mercury will begin to climb from Thursday and last into the weekend, but it may not be warm enough over consecutive days to hit heatwave status.

High pressure is forecast for the east of the UK by Friday. Clockwise winds will scoop up warm air from Europe allowing the temperature to climb, aided by strong June sunshine.

We'll reach the mid-twenties at a number of locations, but the Met Office definition of a heatwave is for the same location to reach 25C or higher on three consecutive days.

Scotland's heatwave threshold

BBC Weather A weather chart of north west Europe with high pressure annotated. Orange arrows show how the pressure system's clockwise winds help to draw in warm continental air from western Europe BBC Weather
High pressure to the east of the UK sends in warm continental air

Different parts of the UK have different temperature thresholds for a heatwave.

In Scotland, 25C or higher needs to be recorded at the same spot for three consecutive days or longer.

In some parts of England the threshold is higher, with 26C, 27C or 28C needed over consecutive days.

This is expected to be met, with some areas potentially reaching up to 33C, including London.

As a result, yellow heat health alerts have been issued for most of England with temperatures set to climb as high as 33C by the weekend.

Map of the UK with counties and districts colour-coded, to show the threshold temperature needed over three consecutive days, to meet the definition of a heatwave.
The temperatures needed to meet the official three-day heatwave threshold vary around the UK

Will it be a heatwave here?

At the moment, the forecast in Scotland is for at least two days of high enough temperatures on Friday and Saturday. However, Thursday is forecast to be around 24C in Glasgow and it is this day that we are watching closely.

There is the possibility that the temperature on Thursday may actually climb to 25C and if that happens then it will almost certainly be the start of an official heatwave period.

If Thursday doesn't quite reach the requisite high, there is a lower possibility that the heat from Friday and Saturday lingers into Sunday too, which may also trigger the necessary three-day period. We've not met the official heatwave criteria in Scotland since September 2023.

BBC Weather A temperature chart for Aviemore, Aberdeen, Perth and Glasgow, showing temperatures reaching the mid twenties on Friday and Saturday. The chart is overlaid on a picture of the Queensferry Crossing, with a field of wildflowers in the foreground.BBC Weather
The peak of the heat is expected on Friday and Saturday

Despite the uncertainty of this hot spell being an official heatwave, it will undoubtedly provide Scotland's warmest day of the year so far. A few spots across Aberdeenshire are expected to reach 27C, with much of the Central Lowlands around 25C or 26C.

The current warmest day of the year so far was on 13 June, when 25.7C was recorded at Lossiemouth, Moray.

The warm spell coincides with the summer solstice on Saturday, which will bring short nights and almost 19 hours of daylight to Lerwick in Shetland and more than 17.5 hours of daylight to Edinburgh.

Whilst there will be some uncomfortable temperatures at night time, especially in our bigger towns and cities, at the moment we're not expecting any tropical nights - which is when the overnight temperature fails to dip below 20C.