Ipswich is set to be one of the hottest places in the UK later this month as a mini-heatwave sweeps across the country on May 20. The Suffolk town could reach 23C, putting it among the second-hottest major towns and cities on the latest long-range maps.
Weather station WXCharts is forecasting temperatures of 23C for Ipswich, while London and Cambridge are tipped to hit 26C. Southampton and Brighton are also expected to reach 23C, with some locations set for 26C or even higher as the spell builds.
A mini-heatwave is usually described as temperatures above 20C, especially when they arrive at a time of year when that sort of warmth is not expected. For Ipswich, that would be a marked change from the cooler, wetter outlook now being signalled by the Met Office for the days around the same period.
The Met Office long-range forecast for May 13 to 22 suggests Suffolk may not get the same run of hot weather. It says periods of rain or showers, some of which could be heavy, are expected for many places, although some drier interludes are also likely. Temperatures are expected to be close to or perhaps a little below normal for most of that stretch.
That leaves a split forecast for the county: one model pointing to a sharp burst of early-summer warmth, and another suggesting the more familiar British mix of showers and brief bright spells. The key date for people in Suffolk is May 20, when the warmer WXCharts maps put Ipswich close to the front of the queue for heat while the Met Office keeps a lid on expectations for the surrounding days.
For now, the better reading is that Ipswich may get a taste of summer, but not a settled one. The hottest burst is forecast for a single day, while the broader outlook still leans toward changeable weather rather than a lasting warm spell.
