Parts of the UK could be as hot as Ibiza as “unseasonably warm weather” is expected at the weekend.
The south of England could match temperatures at European holiday destinations such as Athens (25C) and be hotter than Barcelona, where the Met Office has predicted 24C temperatures.
Temperatures could hit 26C in some places in the South East, making it as hot as Ibiza this weekend, according to the forecaster.
The hottest temperature recorded in the UK in October was on October 1 2011 in Gravesend, where temperatures reached 29.9C.
Met Office spokesperson Stephen Dixon said: “An unseasonably warm spell is likely for those in the south of the UK as we head towards the weekend.”
He added: “That being said in the next couple of days there are periods of rain moving in from the west on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
“There is some rain around as we move through the working week, perhaps those furthest south in England escaping some of those showers…
“In the South East over the weekend we could be getting up to 25 degrees Celsius, possibly touching 26 in some spots, and feeling relatively pleasant in that sunshine through the weekend in the south with some good spells of sunshine likely as well.”
The forecaster added that the north of England and parts of Northern Ireland could also see temperatures in the high teens.
The average October temperature for the UK is 13C, according to the Met Office.
Provisional figures show last month was the UK’s joint warmest September on record.
The average mean temperature across the country was 15.2C, equalling the previous record set in 2006 – something that would have been “practically impossible” without human-led climate change, the Met Office said.
It means five of the top 10 warmest Septembers have taken place this century.
A heatwave affected much of the UK early in the month, with temperatures peaking at 33.2C at Kew Gardens in London on September 9 – the hottest day of the year.