TEMPERATURES are set to soar across Sussex next week with a heat health alert issued for the South East of England.

In Brighton and Hove, the mercury is set to rise to close to 30C towards the middle of next week, with temperatures of 24C and sunshine forecast over the weekend.

A level two alert has been issued for the south coast, with the Met Office warning there is “high confidence for temperatures to rise significantly through the second half of this week and into the weekend, becoming hot or very hot in south eastern areas from next Monday”.

Oli Claydon, a spokesman for the Met Office, said: “Certainly through this weekend we could see temperatures up into the high 20s, particularly in parts of the south and east of UK, and that high pressure that’s driving the more settled conditions and high temperatures staying dominant through next week as well, with temperatures expected to continue to rise through next week.”

Asked if the UK can expect a heatwave next week, Mr Claydon added: “With those settled conditions in place, and the high pressure remaining dominant, it’s something that we’ll have to look at once we get a little bit closer to time.”

Although some cloud cover is expected in Brighton towards the start of next week, temperatures will creep up from 25C on Monday to 28C by Wednesday.