It's the Costa del Northamptonshire as Sahara winds make county hotter than the Med!

Northamptonshire will be hotter than the Med tomorrow (Wednesday May 20) as the county heads for its hottest day of the year so far.

But the best of the weather won't quite make it as far as the Bank Holiday weekend with wind, rain and even thunderstorms heading our way on Thursday and Friday.

Temperatures could hit 28°C tomorrow, a week after Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave the green light to spending more time outside and sunbathing in the county's parks and open spaces.

BBC forecaster Simon King said: "Temperatures are going to rise over the next few days, becoming very warm if not hot by Wednesday before we see some thunderstoms developing and bringing a breakdown to these conditions as we go into the end of the week."

"Wednesday will see most of the sunshine with UV levels high if not very high and temperatures up to 27°C and 28°C in the Midlands.

"Thursday will be another very warm day but increasingly muggy with the potential for some big thunderstorms later on in central England."

The warm spell comes as high pressure sucks up southerly winds from Spain and the Sahara Desert in northwest Africa.

PM Mr Johnson urged people to continue keeping a safe social distance from others when he tweaked the Government's Covid-19 lockdown laws last week.

But he said: "We want to encourage people to take more and even unlimited amounts of outdoor exercise.

"You can sit in the sun in your local park, you can drive to other destinations, you can even play sports but only with members of your own household."

Read the latest Government guidance on what you can and cannot do during the lockdown HERE.

The top temperature recorded by Met Office weather watchers at its Pitsford weather station so far this year was 24.5°C on May 9.

As for the Bank Holiday weekend, the Met Office predicted: "Things will start very warm with good spells of long, fine and dry weather, however, it is possible that rain will develop and spread east.

"These unsettled periods carry the risk of strong winds, mainly for western areas, and rain may turn heavy at times. There is a risk of a few thunderstorms forming ahead of any bands of rain."