An amber weather warning has been issued for most of England, starting from Sunday and lasting into next week.

The "rare" alert from the Met Office suggests the nation could see "exceptionally high temperatures".

An amber warning can mean there is the possibility of travel delays, road and rail closures, power cuts - and even potential risk to life and property.

Temperatures will build again later this week and over the coming weekend, likely peaking on Sunday and Monday. Some exceptionally high temperatures are possible and cumulative effects of warm nights and hot days are expected to bring widespread impacts to people and infrastructure. This period of hot weather is expected to continue into the early part of next week, hence an update extending this warning into Monday is likely.

IRELAND

Ireland is also set to be side swiped by this very hot plume of air which will work its way northwards across Spain, Portugal, France, Germany & Belgium this week arriving to Ireland and the UK on Sunday bringing with it some very high temperatures. Across Ireland temperatures could rise into the high 20s to low 30s on Sunday and Monday next week as the plume of hot air moves across the country.

The below 2 charts show some of the temperatures been forecast for Sunday and Monday next week. Forecasting models as per are update early last week have been hinting this for over a week now and is looking increasingly likely everyday we move closer to the weekend to happen with other forecast model also upgrading there model runs to hotter weather later next weekend and early next.

EUROPE

Warm summer sunshine combined with a hot air front from North Africa have sent temperatures soaring across swathes of Europe.

Spain's state meteorological forecasters AEMET said the heatwave there could last until Thursday.

The country's highest recorded temperature on Sunday was 43C (110F) by the Guadalquivir river near Seville in southern Spain and in Badajoz, towards the west of the country, forecasters said.

And things will only get hotter, with Seville expected to reach up to 47C this week.

France, Germany, Italy, the Balkans and potentially even the low countries are also forecast to see highs of more than 40C.

This same wave of heat could even reach the UK, which could threaten the all-time record temperature of 38.7C (see 9.34 post).

For Rasha, 45, a Syrian health executive who lives in Abu Dhabi, the heatwave was an unwelcome surprise on holiday in Spain.

"It's not as enjoyable as we would like it to be on a holiday but it is what it is. But compared to the desert it is not that bad," she said.

Lazaro Cun, 37, a builder from Guatemala, stayed in the shade in Madrid's Casa de Campo Park to escape the heat.

"It is hot but at least with a breeze you feel better," he said.

LATEST NEWS