Amber heat health alerts issued with UK temperatures set to soar above 30C

Amber heat health warnings have been issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) with a potential heatwave set to develop this weekend.

The amber alerts cover the east, south-east and south-west of England as well as the Midlands, and are valid from 12:00 BST on Thursday until 20:00 on Tuesday.

Yellow alerts are valid across the Midlands during the same times.

Temperatures are set to climb above 30C (86F) during Friday and then again from Sunday - with the potential that some locations in the south and east of the UK may enter official heatwave conditions.

Last month, much of the UK faced an unprecedented heatwave, with the record for the hottest May temperature broken with a temperature of 35.1C at Kew Gardens in London.

Both Wales and Ireland also recorded their highest May temperatures, at 32.9C in Cardiff and 30C in County Clare.

According to the Met Office, the spring weather event was "one of the UK's most extreme high temperature events in our observational records".

On Thursday temperatures are expected to rise to around 25-28C across the Midlands, East Anglia and south-east England, where there'll also be some sunshine.

Elsewhere it will stay fairly cloudy with some rain, easing to showers, with temperatures around 17 to 24C, closer to the average for mid-June.

There will be another bout of wet weather on Friday in Northern Ireland, Scotland, northern and western areas of England and Wales.

It will then turn drier and sunnier for all parts over the weekend with some light winds. Temperatures in these areas will rise a little over the coming days, they will remain at the modest level of 19 to 26C.

The heat across southern and eastern areas of England is expected to build further on Friday with temperatures of 27 to 31C expected.

While less hot on Saturday, by Sunday and Monday temperatures could return to the high twenties and up to 31 or even 32C.

By Monday there could be some big thunderstorms developing across England and Wales.

British weather is being influenced by a large and potentially record breaking heatwave developing across western Europe caused by a static area of high pressure.

The high pressure can act like a lid causing warm air to get trapped underneath it. This leads to already warm or hot air becoming hotter and hotter, creating a so-called "heat dome".

Temperatures across Spain, France, Germany and into eastern Europe will rise into the mid to high 30s in the coming days.

By Sunday, temperatures could exceed 40C in parts of France, including Paris. The June temperature record of 37.6C set in 1947 is likely to be exceeded easily.

Many other locations across France could also see new records being set with this national heatwave.

The area of high pressure will subtly shift position over the next few days and this will allow some of this hot air to come into the south-east of the UK.