It may be the last official week of meteorological summer, but parts of Scotland are expected to see highs of 27 degrees this week.

Forecasters are predicting the south west of Scotland will see temperatures near the 30s on Wednesday at around 27 degrees, with areas like Glasgow reaching 25.

By comparison, Barcelona in Spain is hitting 26 degrees on Wednesday.

But it's not all sunshine - a cold front from the North Sea will bring strong winds to the east coast, with fears of a cooler Thursday.

Sarah Kent, a Met Office forecaster, told the PA news agency: “High pressure is dominating this week bringing mostly settled conditions with variable amounts of cloud.

“However, there will be a north-easterly breeze coming in from the North Sea making it feel colder for some regions especially later on in the week.

“Where there is sun, particularly on Wednesday, temperatures could reach highs of 24C in England and Wales, while western areas in Scotland and Northern Ireland could be up to 26C.

“This all depends on the amount of cloud some regions see.”

UV and pollen levels will also be high across parts of England and Wales over the coming days.

Ms Kent said that after Wednesday, the temperature will become cooler as a cold front moves in.

She went on to say: “It’s not going to be wall-to-wall warm weather all week, that north-easterly wind will continue to peg back any chances of the temperature going too high.”

It comes after parts of the UK have seen large amounts of rainfall for the time of year, including the City of London, which has experienced its ninth wettest August on record.

However, Ms Kent said this does not represent the country as a whole- concluding that it’s been the seventh warmest August on record.

She added: “This month has pretty much swung back and forth for many, areas in Scotland have been drier than usual, while areas in the south-east have, of course, seen plenty of torrential downpours.

“It hasn’t been so bad, the country has generally seen 72% of its average rainfall for the month so far, which is pretty much where you want to be as we come to the end of August.”