Weather trend: Mainly fine, but a few thundery showers, very warm

Hot weather is expected to affect many parts of the UK, with plenty of sunshine, but also a few showers and storms at times.

Tuesday and Wednesday will see hot conditions across southern and eastern parts of the UK in particular, where highs may reach 33 or 34°C in a few places.

Meanwhile, things will remain rather more comfortable in Ireland, coastal parts of Wales as well as most of Scotland.

While many areas will experience long, sunny spells, some cloudier areas are also likely to develop, potentially leading to showers and thunderstorms.

These thundery outbreaks are most likely on Wednesday and Thursday, but they're unlikely to become widespread or heavy.

As a new area of high pressure looks set to develop just to our northwest later in the week, the hot continental air may be replaced by a slightly cooler airstream Friday and Saturday.

This seems to be short-lived, however, as another plume of hot air could reach our shores by the weekend, with temperatures rising once again, particularly in the south and west.

Looking further ahead and the very warm weather may continue well into next week, though outbreaks of showers and storms could slowly start to develop in more areas.

However, a pattern change towards a cooler and wetter spell seems unlikely before at least the middle of next week.