West Wales looks set for a mini-heatwave this weekend with the mercury forecast to hit 26ºC.

As schools prepare to break up for the summer on Friday and tourism operators predict a busy season, the Met Office is expecting a sunny and warm start to the holidays.

Today will see patchy rain across most of the country with a risk of thunder later this evening.

The weather will clear on Tuesday and temperatures will rise to 23ºC with bright sunshine forecast for Friday, Saturday and Sunday and a high temperature of 26ºC in Aberystwyth and Porthmadog on Sunday with 25ºC forecast inland in Lampeter.

The Met Office says from Friday “there is high confidence that there will have been a marked change to much more settled and warm weather, as an area of high pressure becomes slow-moving across much of the UK and Ireland.

“This should bring in a lot of fine and dry weather meaning long sunny spells, variable cloud and mainly light winds should become the general trend for most.

“Temperatures also likely to be above normal for most, and possibly becoming hot at times for parts of the south. The occasional wetter spell cannot be ruled out, however, with an increasing likelihood of showers developing for southern areas. These showers also have the potential to turn thundery.”

Forecasters say the good weather is likely to remain for the remainder of July and into early August with temperatures also look to remain above average.