Glorious sunshine to finally arrive

It took a long time coming, but summer is finally here - with glorious sunshine and scorching temperatures due later this week.

A ridge of high pressure is building up from the south west, bringing in hot air from the continent and driving away the cold, damp conditions which have caused so much misery in recent weeks.

The mini-heatwave comes just in time for the start of the school holidays. John Warner, Shropshire Star weatherman, said clouds were clearing away and temperatures would reach 26C (79F) on Wednesday and Thursday.

"It will stay predominantly warm for the next 10 days," he said.

"I think we will start seeing thundery showers from Friday and it will feel sticky and humid, making it a bit uncomfortable at night.

"High pressure is moving into the Channel, bringing with it hot air from Europe. For the longer term, the Met Office is predicting pretty good weather for late August and early September, which will be very welcome."

Mr Warner said Shropshire and Mid Wales would see sunny spells tomorrow and temperatures of 23C (73F).

Things would get even warmer on Wednesday, with hazy conditions and a light east wind, and it would become increasingly humid by Thursday.

He said although the mean temperatures for June had been exactly on the 30-year average, July had been significantly colder and damper than usual.

Already some forecasters have warned this summer could be one of the wettest on record, even worse than the soaking of last year.

However, the gloomy weather is not deterring a growing number of Britons from spending their holidays at home.

The number of UK holiday breaks was up by 13 per cent in the first quarter of 2008 compared with the same period last year.

By Peter Johnson