Britain 's first heatwave for seven years has taken meteorologists by surprise- and there is no sign of the mercury plummeting any time soon.
“This summer the circulation is very different to the past 6 years with the jet stream much further north, in complete contrast to the last few years, and also against expectations," said Leon Brown, meteorologist at The Weather Channel.
"This year is proving different so we will have to go back and examine other global drivers and see how they are interacting and influencing the circulation change.”
Gigi Gibbs enjoys the colours of summer at Westonbirt Arboretum near Gloucester, England
Forecasters say that Wednesday could again break the record for the warmest day of the year, with temperatures expected to creep up as high as 32C in parts of England.
It means Britain will bask in its fifth consecutive day of 30C-plus temperatures - the first prolonged "heatwave" since 2006.
Gemma Plumb, forecaster with MeteoGroup - weather division of the Press Association - said: "There is no proper definition of 'heatwave' in the UK - but we are undoubtedly in the midst of one now.
"It is the longest period of hot weather since 2006, with prolonged temperatures above the average for the time of year.
"Normally we can expect it to reach 20-22C (68-71.6F) in England and Wales - today parts of the Midlands, East Anglia, the south coast and London could see 30C-plus."
And sun-worshippers can expect to enjoy balmy Britain for a while yet.
Plumb said: "At the moment it looks as though the warm weather is going to stay well into next week at least."
Brown added: “For the rest of this week the area of high pressure over the UK will gradually build northwards. This is good news for northern Scotland where the weather will become hot and sunny to end the week, and for the weekend, reaching 27 to 28C.
"Over the rest of the UK temperatures in the mid to high 20s every day with hottest values around 30 to 31C. In the SE breezes will pick up from the E to NE off the North Sea by Saturday with some lower cloud drifting inland, so a cloudier start”
“The extended forecast suggests that the area of high pressure will begin to decline for early August with slightly cooler temperatures, but still above normal in the south.
"Some showers in the north but still below normal precipitation nationwide so a drought risk developing, and a high risk of fires as the ground will be tinder dry.”