East Lancashire is set to bask in hot weather this week.

Temperatures will reach 28C in Blackburn and Burnley on Tuesday, with highs of 27C in Accrington and Clitheroe, the Met Office has predicted.

Today the mercury will reach 22C in the region, with high ultra violet light and pollen expected.

Wednesday will see the temperatures drop to around 22C, before going up to 26C on Thursday.

"As we head through the week, the rain will generally begin to ease across northern areas, so the potential is for much of the UK to see some hot conditions," a Met Office spokesman said.

The spokesman said: "There will be some sunshine around during the week, but also the risk of some heavy thundery downpours as well."

Temperatures will increase as the week progresses, according to forecasters, reaching highs of 33C on Tuesday, 34C on Wednesday and 35C on Thursday in the south of England.

Although the main concentration of the hot weather will be in central and south-eastern England, parts of Scotland could reach the high 20s.

For the majority of the UK, the mercury needs to hit 25C for three consecutive days to be classed as a heatwave.

The maximum temperature recorded in July is 36.7C on the first day of the month in 2015 at Heathrow.

Looking ahead to next weekend, the Met Office expects temperatures to fall.

"There's some uncertainty though on just how long the heatwave conditions will last for," the forecaster said.

"It looks most likely that, at least by Saturday, most areas will see a bit of a drop in temperatures.

"There's still a lot of sunshine around for the weekend and temperatures probably look to be not quite as hot, but with a summery feel staying for the weekend."