Northern Ireland Weather: 'Heatwave' ongoing today as mercury to hit 24 °C - with temperatures remaining over 20°C most of week as Yellow Health alert issued for most of England

They add that “it’ll be a warm day with a maximum temperature of 24°C”.

The forecasters add that “overnight it’ll be dry with some brightness or late sunshine in the evening” and “staying dry in the east overnight, but clouding over with patchy light drizzle for western parts of Tyrone and Fermanagh”.

Tonight’s low will be 13°C.

The great news comes after Northern Ireland saw temperatures over the weekend of 18C on Saturday and 20C yesterday (Sunday) in Northern Ireland, according to the Met Office.

And tomorrow, according to the meteorologists “will be a cloudier day, with some outbreaks of rain developing in the east in the afternoon, some brighter spells are possible in the west later on”.

They add that “with that cloud the temperatures will be a little lower, with highs of 20°C”.

Meanwhile, “Wednesday will be mainly dry with some early sunshine, though it’ll turn hazier later”.

"Temperatures will be a little higher than Tuesday with 22°C possible,” add the forecasters.

Meanwhile the “change in the weather comes on Wednesday evening, with rain moving in from the west through Wednesday evening and into the early hours of Thursday”.

"This will bring some cooler air across the UK with highs on Thursday expected to be 18°C,” they add.

"The rain will clear through leaving sunshine and scattered showers.

"By Friday, it’ll be dry and bright with just the odd shower, highs of 18° again”.

The ‘heatwave’ over the next couple of days should see temperatures hit over 20C­ ­­­­­­­— until Wednesday at least, according to the Met Office.

A heatwave is an extended period of hot weather relative to the expected conditions of the area at that time of year, which may be accompanied by high humidity. See more here

It comes after after we were plunged into unseasonably chilly conditions in early June, with temperatures dropping down to single figures and the low teens thanks to Arctic air blowing in.

Meanwhile, across the water, highs of up to 31C have been forecast for this week as temperatures across the UK continue to rise.

A yellow heat health alert has been issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and Met Office for most of England, with all but the North East included in the warning.

The alert will come into force from Monday morning and remain in place until Thursday afternoon.

Liam Eslick, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said Monday will see mostly dry weather with “plenty of sunny spells” and a maximum temperature of 28C.

On Tuesday, conditions are expected to become cloudy and murky in western Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Some showers will be seen across northern England which could turn thundery, but the rest of the country will see “more sunshine” and temperatures up in the mid to high 20s.

Mr Eslick said Wednesday is likely to be the warmest of the days so far with highs of 30C in the South East.

However, Thursday is likely to see a breakdown in the weather with clouds and outbreaks of rain forecast across the country. The meteorologist said there is even the possibility of an “odd thunderstorm for some”.

Temperatures on Thursday are expected to remain “widely warm” with some areas seeing highs of up to 31C.

Festival-goers at Glastonbury will have to wait a little longer for more clarity on the outlook for the weekend, though conditions are expected to remain unsettled as temperatures drop back to the average for June.

This is likely to be around 18C or 19C.