JERSEY’S hottest week of the year so far is due to see the temperature rise to 26°C or higher.
But there is no prospect of an official heatwave being declared yet.
A high of just over 25°C was recorded on Monday, beating the 24.1°C figure of 11 May, which had been the hottest so far this year, and Jersey Met predicted that the temperature could reach 25°C again on Tuesday and even more tomorrow.
Forecaster Adrienne Le Maistre said: “We’re expecting quite a bit of heat today and tomorrow, and expect the temperature to peak on Wednesday at 26°C, or it could reach 27°C.”
A reading of 26.7°C would take the temperature above the 80° mark on the Fahrenheit scale.
A light breeze from the north-east is expected to drop tomorrow, with the mercury rising, but by Thursday cooler conditions are forecast, with a high of 22°C. The forecast for the remainder of the week shows plenty of sunshine and only a very small chance of a shower.
But the hot spell is not due to constitute a heatwave under a new definition brought in by Jersey Met in June 2023, when the Island’s forecasting authority aligned itself with its UK counterpart.
Now, a heatwave is only declared when temperatures reach 28°C or more for three days in a row. The previous classification required five consecutive days with maximum readings at least 5°C warmer than average.
The first heatwave since the introduction of the new definition came in September last year, when five days of 28°C or higher culminated in the hottest day of the year when 31.2°C was recorded on 9 September.
