Large parts of the UK look set for later this month, with some counties in England seeing the mercury rise as high as 32C. Forecast data collected by shows deep red blanketing the southern half of Great Britain on Monday, June 16, at noon UTC (1pm BST).

Temperatures around this time could rise as high as 29C in southeast England, at around mid-20s for most of England and . In Scotland, top temps are expected to range between the upper teens, while Northern Ireland sees the dial jumping to the high teens and early 20s at most.

Some counties could already be breaching the 30C mark by this time, including Kent and an area of appearing to reach across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

By 6pm (7pm BST), multiple counties in southern England, including Essex, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, London, Hampshire, Berkshire, Surrey, and Kent, could experience temperatures of at least 30C.

London and areas west of the capital, potentially including Buckinghamshire and Berkshire could see the hottest temperatures, rising to staggering 32C at this time, the maps indicate.

It comes amid the UK's sunniest spring on record, with around 630 hours of sunshine logged between March 1 and May 27, seeing off the 2020 record of 626 hours.

The Met Office's current long-range forecast (covering June 8 to June 17) flags the potential for warm weather to develop in the latter half of next week, and "periods of fine and dry weather" from midway through the month.

Changeable weather is expected across the UK at the start of the period, "with showers or some longer spells of rain spreading in from the Atlantic".

The north and northwest will probably see the heaviest and most prolonged rain, with the southeast likely to be the driest, the government agency adds.

"Temperatures are expected to be near normal or slightly below," though into the second half of next week, "there is potential for some warm or hot weather to develop, particularly in the south and east, although this may be accompanied by heavy showers and thunderstorms".

"Into the middle of June, high pressure may become more dominant. This will bring periods of fine and dry weather, especially in south and temperatures rising above normal," the weather service adds.