Weather watchers forecasting a hot and sunny weekend for Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire is set for another mini-heatwave as temperatures soar across the county on Friday.

But, unlike last week, this spell of sunshine is set to last into the weekend.

Forecasters predict Friday's heat could even get close to last week when the Met Office weather station at Pitsford recorded a sticky 36.1°C — the hottest day of the year so far.

Local weather-watcher Jamie from @NNweather said: "It's looking like another hot Friday ahead in the county with long spells of sunshine in a gentle southerly breeze.

"It’ll be a dry day with temperatures rising to 33°C, particularly in the east of the county."

The hottest day recorded at Pitsford was 34.1°C back on August 9, 2003.

But Met Office forecaster Alex Deakin said: "We're going to see temperatures jumping up with plenty of sunshine around. Highest temperatures are likely to be across East Anglia and through the Midlands where it will widely be over 30°C.

"It will be a similar set up to last week with high pressure to the east allowing southerly winds to waft up hot air.

"But, unlike last week, a cold front to the west doesn't sweep the hot air away but fizzles out, allowing the heat to persist into the weekend.

"Temperatures won't be as hot as Friday but could still reach 30°C keeping it dry and sunny for the weekend."

Locals tempted to make the most of the sunshine by lighting up a barbecue over the weekend are again being reminded to dispose of their waste safely to prevent fires.

Northampton Borough Council cabinet member for environment Mike Hallam said: “Simple steps to correctly dispose of household waste is all that is required to prevent fire incidents and the detrimental impact they have on services and local communities.

“Let’s all take responsibility for our own rubbish, whether we are at home or out and about in the town’s parks and streets as each one of us can be the change that we want to see around us and make a difference by behaving responsibly.”