As England grips itself for its first-ever national emergency red alert for heat early next week, parts of Northern Ireland may see the breaking of the all-time temperature record if the forecast heatwave unfolds as expected.

In a bulletin, the Met Office has forecasted the following weather for the next few days across Northern Ireland.

It predicts temperatures will begin to rise on Saturday. It said: "Saturday will be generally dry with bright and sunny spells. Temperatures lifting into low 20s again for many. However, some showers late in the day, chiefly around the north coast. Maximum temperature 22C."

However, Met Office predicts temperatures will rise day by day from Sunday.

From then, its bulletin predicts: “Mostly dry and increasingly sunny. Afternoon highest [temperatures] lifting day by day, particularly across southern and eastern areas, with some chance of breaking the all-time temperature record on Tuesday.”

The first red warning for exceptional heat, forecast in parts of England, predicts temperatures could hit 40C.

Such exceptional heat is expected to affect a large part of England early next week, with temperatures likely in the high 30s in some places. 

In the Republic of Ireland, Met Eireann has put in place a status yellow high-temperature warning for this coming Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

Met Eireann forecasts “exceptionally warm weather [that] will occur over Ireland with daytime temperatures of 25 to 30C generally, and possibly up to 32 degrees in places on Monday".

It added: "Night time temperatures will range from 15 to 20C.”