Parts of England will sizzle today with temperatures set to reach the highest so far this year, beating Portugal, Turkey and Spain.
The London and Essex area will be drenched in sunshine as the mercury rises to 80.6F, and possibly 82.4F.
British hopes for Wimbledon might have been dashed with the exit of Andy Murray yesterday, but tennis fans looking forward to day 11 of the action at the All England club can be consoled with a dry, warm day.
Festival-goers on the Isle of Wight last month
MeteoGroup forecaster Sean Penston said: "Fair weather cloud will clear in the late morning to leave plenty of sunshine with a pleasant southwesterly breeze."
The hottest temperature so far this year was in Southampton where 80.2F was recorded on June 13, according to MeteoGroup.
Elsewhere there will be patchy rain in northern England, parts of Wales and Northern Ireland for a time, with a few showers in western Scotland.
The predictions mean central England will be warmer than Faro in Portugal, a degree warmer than Barcelona in Spain, and much hotter than Istanbul in Turkey where a high of 75.2F is expected.
The warm weather will roll over to Friday but is likely to give way to a cooler weekend, Mr Penston said, with temperatures dropping to around 68F or 69.8F.
Finalists at Wimbledon could have to contend with some showers on Saturday and Sunday.
"I wouldn't rule out an isolated shower on Saturday, and there is a risk of a few sharp showers on Sunday," said Mr Penston.