UK weather: Balmy 16C forecast as maps turn orange - despite fog warning

Several cities will welcome warmer temperatures today - with highs of 16C recorded in the south, while patchy fog will linger over much of country for the rest of the week

The UK is about to heat up again with Brits set to bask in balmy highs of 16C today - despite patchy fog lingering over much of country this week.

Several cities in the south of England will welcome warmer temperatures, with Exeter recording summery highs of 17C, while London, Brighton, Bristol, Bournemouth and Southampton will peak at a comfy 16C, according to the Met Office. This is despite the UK being hit with thick, dense fog in recent days, which looks set to linger. Last week, the forecaster issued an amber weather warning, telling Brits the fog would likley cause "problems of visibility" and major travel chaos.

But a new weather front moving in from northern Europe means dry and sunny spells will take over the south for the half of the week, with little to no disruption expected from the residual fog. Temperatures will be cooler further north, with Sheffield, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle, along with the majority of areas across Northern Ireland, hovering between 13C and 15C. Scotland will see the chilliest temperatures throughout the day - ranging between 10-12C - with areas further north dipping as low as 9C.

The Met Office says fog will clear through this morning, and "most places" will see "dry with sunny spells". Thicker cloud and showery rain will push southeastwards across parts of England and Wales, but or many areas, this will be broken up by a spot of afternoon sunshine.

Met Office Meteorologist Amy Bokota said: “Thanks to this weather front that's been lingering through much of the day, we'll get some dry and clearer conditions moving in. We do have a second frontal system arriving from the Northwest and that'll be giving some cloud and some outbreaks into the start of Tuesday morning.

She added it will be a “generally quite a bright day away from those mist and fog patches – which will clear pretty quickly.” There will be a band of rain slowly starting to sink further Southeast through Tuesday Morning, but these showers will be breaking up as sunny spells develop towards the afternoon.

"Temperatures are going to be in the mid-teens and feeling generally quite pleasant if you're in that sunshine, but again further north only 11 or 12C with a strong westly Breeze, particularly across Orkney and Shetland, it will be feeling fairly brisk."