TEMPERATURES are set to soar to a balmy 27C this week as the region basks in glorious summer sunshine.

Forecasters are expecting readings well above the average for this time of the year, with the warm weather set to peak on Wednesday.

However, the sunshine may come at a cost with stormy showers also set to arrive over the coming days.

Chris Bell, a forecaster at Norwich-based experts Weatherquest, said the start of the new month today marked the beginning of a warm spell triggered by air coming up from southern Europe.

He said: “We can expect to see temperatures above average, into the mid-twenties. Wednesday will be the warmest, most likely.

“The average for the time of year is about 21C, so we are about 6C above that.

“Most years you get to 30C once or twice but this will be one of the warmer spells we have had.

“The thing that may be a drawback is that we are likely to see some showers by Wednesday as well and these could be thundery showers.”