Northern Ireland weather: European heat plume likely to miss UK - but good temperatures still expected says Met Office

Some media reports had been claiming that Britain could see temperatures of 21C by mid May.

The reports come after exceptionally warm weather in Europe.

At the end of April it was reported that Spain was sweltering in summertime temperatures – with highs of 38 degrees centigrade in the southern Guadalquivir Valley.

Health officials were considering bringing in a heat prevention plan two weeks early to help regions respond to the unseasonably warm weather’s effects.

The Spanish State Meteorological Agency said temperatures are “exceptionally high” for April because of a mass of very warm and dry air coming from North Africa.

The Met Office said that a 'European Heat plume' is simply pockets of air that are constantly moving around the globe. These are obviously warmer near the equator and as they move northwards into Europe they can have an impact, it said.

However because other cooler air from around the UK also has an impact here, the Met Office said it was unlikely to have a major impact.

"Over the next couple of weeks, there are some global signals for some warmer air to be affected over some parts of southern Europe, which would be more than average temperatures in this period," a spokesman told the News Letter.

"However, the long range UK outlook at the moment in terms of mid and late May is that the heat plume doesn't look to be moving towards the UK, so temperatures are likely to be around average.

"But as we move through the latter half of the month there will be a general trend upwards into the 20s, which would be very typical for this time of year anyway - for Northern Ireland as well."

However he said things could change in that period.