Great Britain is headed for temperatures hotter than the Sahara Desert, meteorologists say.

Weather watchers predict highs of 30 degrees centigrade - 96 degrees Fahrenheit - during Bank Holiday weekend, marking the hottest heat wave in 160 years.

Tuesday, May 16, set the record for the hottest temperature recorded in Britain this year.Gravesend, Kent, reached 78.5 degrees Fahrenheit, and throughout Britain, temperatures were in the 70s.

Forecasts predict temperatures of 73 to 75 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday, increasing to 77 on Thursday and the high 80s as hot air from France and Spain heat up the country heading into the weekend.

These temperatures have warmed the country to the point of being comparable to Nouakchott, Mauritania bordering the Sahara and Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.These atypical temperatures in Britain are said by forecasters to be the result of a Spanish Plume with a width of 1,000 miles, proving itself able to "pump up the country's thermostat."

Emma Sharples, a forecaster at the Met Office, explained, "Friday and Saturday will see temperatures rise, with the mid-to-high 20s [centigrade] widespread across the country.Friday's highs look around 27 degrees centigrade (81 degrees Fahrenheit) , with a chance of approaching 30 degrees (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in the West.Saturday is fairly likely to see the low 30s in some locations as heat builds, with Sunday similar in the high 20s or low 30s."

The Met Office also warned that rain and thunderstorms are on their way, coming from the west to cool temperatures on the following Sunday and Monday.

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