TEMPERATURES could reach 26C this week ahead of Bank Holiday weekend, forecasters have said.

After a month of grey skies and wet weather, part of the UK will enjoy periods of warm sunshine due to “dominating” levels of high pressure.

The Met Office have made the prediction after hopes of an August ‘heatwave’ were all but extinguished.

This has led to news outlets heralding a heatwave and PR officers churning out their evergreen releases about what to or what not to do in the hot weather.

Sarah Kent, a Met Office forecaster, have actually said is: “High pressure is dominating this week bringing mostly settled conditions with variable amounts of cloud.

“However, there will be a north-easterly breeze coming in from the North Sea making it feel colder for some regions especially later on in the week.

“Where there is sun, particularly on Wednesday, temperatures could reach highs of 24C in England and Wales, while western areas in Scotland and Northern Ireland could be up to 26C.

“This all depends on the amount of cloud some regions see.”

So will North Wales see a heatwave?

The short answer is almost certainly not.

Although there will be sunny intervals in Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham, temperatures are not expected to exceed 21C.

The best chance of sunshine uninterrupted by cloud are between 3pm and 8pm on Wednesday and 1pm and 7pm on Thursday.

Meanwhile, those who suffer from hay fever in England and Wales have been warned that UV and pollen levels will be high over the next couple of days.

Ms Kent has said that temperatures will drop again as Brits prepare to enjoy the August Bank Holiday.

She added: “It’s not going to be wall-to-wall warm weather all week, that north-easterly wind will continue to peg back any chances of the temperature going too high.”

It comes after parts of the UK have seen large amounts of rainfall for the time of year, including the City of London, which has experienced its ninth wettest August on record.