London basks in September sunshine as temperatures to near heatwave levels

London is basking in a blast of summer-like September weather with temperatures set to reach at least 25C — but the glorious conditions won’t last.

The capital’s green spaces were peppered with office workers and visitors enjoying the afternoon sun and clear blue skies on Monday, with it due to peak at 24C.

The Met Office said that Tuesday, while likely to be cloudy in the north and west parts of the city, could be even warmer, reaching a high of 25C on what is set to be “another dry day with plenty of sunshine”.

Forecasters said Londoners can expect it to “feel warm, perhaps very warm, in the sunshine, with light winds”.

The temperatures in late September will be just below the 28C threshold that the Met Office uses to define a heatwave in London. The threshold has to be met three days in a row for a heatwave to be declared.

Wednesday will bring the dry conditions to an abrupt halt, however, despite a bright start.

Temperatures will remain warm, with forecasters expecting it to get to 24C on Wednesday, but rain is expected by mid-afternoon.

That will clear the way for much brighter conditions on Thursday, which will see the sunshine and clear skies return, possibly reaching 21C, after a chilly morning.

Friday promises warm temperatures of up to 24C but rain is a possibility, said meteorologists.

As September moves into October, the Met Office said sunny conditions will continue to dip in and out as Atlantic weather systems bring spells of rain, showers and occasional strong winds.

London and the South East has been put on notice to expect temperatures to be “slightly above normal overall” heading into October, with some periods of drier and more settled weather still likely to appear for days at a time.

Strong autumn sunshine continuing into October could see the weather meet the definition of an Indian summer.

Used to describe a spell of warmer weather after colder autumn conditions have first set in, the term was first defined in the Met Office Meteorological Glossary in 1916.

The Glossary defined an Indian summer as “a warm, calm spell of weather occurring in autumn, especially in October and November”.