ESSEX is set for a mini heatwave this weekend.

Many places across the county will see temperatures start to rise with highs of 27C.

Across Essex, Grays and Basildon are set to see the best of the sunshine.

The Met Office predict that some areas are experiencing highs of 27C today, with it being the best day for weather.

The warm weather will continue across the weekend, cooling down a bit for Monday morning.

The Met Office's long-range forecast has warned any sustained heatwaves are unlikely, however, until at least the middle of August.

"Temperatures sticking around normal with any warmer weather being short-lived," the report says of the period from July 29 to August 12.

Here is the forecast across Essex this weekend:

Basildon

Saturday: 24C mixture of sun and clouds

Sunday: 22C mixture of sun and clouds

Braintree

Saturday: 23C mixture of sun and clouds

Sunday: 21C mixture of sun and clouds

Brentwood

Saturday: 24C mixture of sun and clouds

Sunday: 21C and mostly cloudy

Chelmsford

Saturday: 24C mixture of sun and clouds

Sunday: 22C mixture of sun and clouds

Clacton

Saturday: 22C and mostly cloudy

Sunday: 20C mixture of sun and clouds

Echo: Sunshine coast's perfect beaches

Colchester

Saturday: 24C and cloudy

Sunday: 21C with sunny intervals

Grays

Saturday: 24C mixture of sun and clouds

Sunday: 22C mixture of sun and clouds

Harlow

Saturday: 23C and cloudy

Sunday: 21C and cloudy

Harwich

Saturday: 23C and cloudy

Sunday: 20C mixture of sun and clouds

Southend

Saturday: 23C mixture of sun and clouds

Sunday: 21C mixture of sun and clouds

Echo: Traders delight as sun shines on Southend

  • Southend beach

A mini heatwave is not a meteorological term and is in this case only used to describe the unseasonably hot weather expected this weekend.

To be a heatwave, the weather needs to stay above the threshold for a certain period of time.