Shropshire weather: Could the sun finally be making an appearance?

The dismal cloud, rain and strong winds of the past few weeks will be replaced by blue skies and sunshine. And temperatures that have been dragging along in the mid teens will finally reach figures more akin to July.

A mini-heatwave characterised by fine, warm weather is on the way according to former Shropshire weather expert Piers Corbyn – the brother of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Shropshire-raised Mr Corbyn, who runs weather forecast service Weather Action, specialises in long-range weather forecasting

He said Britain could expect to bask in a week or so of summer sunshine, although previous forecasts of a six-week heatwave caused by Spanish plumes have now been revised.

Mr Corbyn, who grew up in Pave Lane, near Newport, and attended Adams Grammar School, said the hot spell would be felt most acutely over the south of England, but would benefit most of the country, adding: "We can expect to see a week or so of mainly fine or very fine and warm weather from the weekend on, largely due to low pressure rather than what has been described as a Spanish plume."

A Spanish plume is when warm air from Iberia moves northwards and as it hits the cold air from the Atlantic it causes the warm air to rise very quickly which can lead to intense heat and some very heavy and thundery downpours.

But while previous long-range forecasts had suggested it might be on the way, Mr Corbyn said this was unlikely to happen – for now.

"There will be no Spanish plume until later," he said.

A so-called Spanish plume of warm air has been predicted to descend on Britain towards the end of the week, bringing with it a long sustained spell of hot weather.

While that isn't strictly true, there will be high pressure moving in which should mean warmer temperatures and less rain.

That is good news for the elephants at West Midlands Safari Park, which have been making the best of the summer so far by creating their own water park.

Five, 24, Latabe, 23, and two-year-old bundle of fun Sutton like nothing more than spraying each other to keep cool.

They will feel right at home on Sunday when temperatures are expected to top 80F in some areas.

Grahame Madge, of the Met Office, said: "What we will have towards the end of the week is a band of warm air across Europe, coming from the tropical Atlantic, which will bring some high humidity and quite a lot of heat. It will feel quite muggy, but I'm afraid there is nothing to suggest there will be a six-week heatwave."

The better weather is good news for events in Shropshire, which include the large model aircraft rally at RAF Cosford, the Carnival of Giants at Telford Town Park, and the Wem sweet pea show.

Mr Madge said despite the upturn, there could still be some wet weather over the weekend.

"Sunday is showing quite a lot of rainfall coming from the north, over north Wales and the north west, and possibly reaching the Welsh border," he said.

Last month Shropshire endured 87mm rainfall in 27 days, 42 per cent higher than the time of year, with jet streams being blamed.