Forecasters have predicted an ‘African plume’ could hit the UK shortly before Halloween this year.

The weather front could bring with it a surge of warmer weather before the end of the month.

An African plume is a mass of hot air which could result in temperatures reaching soaring back into the 20s next week.

New Weather explained the phenomenon, saying: “The potential for warm weather next week is thanks to an increasingly amplifying upper flow patter upstream over the North Atlantic, leading to an upper trough to disrupt to form a cut-off upper low to the west of Europe.

 

“This upper low to the west combined a strong upper ridge building north over Europe looks to pump a plume of very warm air north from Northwest Africa across western Europe next week, reaching southern Britain by Wednesday.

"So, there is potential next week, particularly Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, for temperatures to reach the low twenties Celsius across southern Britain with sunshine, most likely across SE England and East Anglia."

A Met Office spokesman played down talks of a dramatic change in temperature however.

They said: "Southerly winds will bring a mild spell across the UK next week, particularly in the southeast where temperatures could reach around 20 or 21 Celsius. Southerly winds will draw up warm air from the continent. This air will have originated over Africa.

"Temperatures at this stage don’t look to be exceptional (for context, average temperatures in the south at this time of year are 16 Celsius. Also, the UK’s highest October temperature on record is 29.9C in October 2011 at Gravesend in Kent).

 "Halloween is a bit too far away to give an exact temperature forecast, but at this stage temperatures look likely to be around average for the time of year, which is around 15 Celsius."