Six days after the tornado, temperatures are set to hit 30°C in Northamptonshire

Summer is set to return to Northamptonshire with temperatures rising to 30°C, for a while at least.

Less than a week after thunder, lightning and a tornado hit the county, forecasters are predicting a sunny Friday — which could then be followed by more storms.

Our weather-watcher Jamie from @NNWeather said: "There is definitely a warming trend over the next few days with temperatures rising.

"Tuesday, it's around 18°C but Friday could be around 12°C hotter than that.

"There is, however, a risk of heavy showers or thunderstorms on Friday night."

Stunned locals watched a tornado rip through an area north of Northampton at around 8pm on Saturday night causing damage along its path from Weedon to Moulton.

But the unseasonable area of low pressure that has hung around, bringing rain on Monday and strong winds on Tuesday will finally clear to leave sunshine and more settled conditions.

Temperatures need to remain high for three days or more to be counted as a heatwave. But the upcoming short hot spell will not get anywhere near that.The Met Office's Deputy Chief Forecaster, Brent Walker, said “There is quite a change in the weather coming by the end of the week, with increasing sunshine and a day of hot conditions on Friday.

"It won’t persist long enough to become a heatwave as a cold front moves in on Saturday, bringing the temperatures back down to around average for the time of year.”

Northamptonshire's driest May on record has been followed by a largely indifferent summer with just a brief hot spell in late-June.

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