The UK is set for yet more sunshine on Friday, with some parts seeing highs of up to 23C – almost 10C higher than average for this time of the year.

London is expected to enjoy 22C on Friday afternoon, according to the Met Office, while parts of the southeast and the southwest are set to bask in 20C to 21C sunshine.

And forecasters say there is a chance of 23C east Wales, central and southeast England – and potentially even as far north as the east of Scotland.

The temperatures are considerably higher than the average of around 13C for this time of the year.

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) has issued a warning against using barbecues amid a heightened risk of fires.

Amid a reported 48% increase in calls last weekend compared to the same weekend last year, the LFB called on Londoners to “act responsibly” to prevent blazes.

LFB assistant commissioner Thomas Goodall said: “The risk of wildfires in London currently is heightened and this risk increases with every day that passes without rainfall.”

Find out the forecast for your area

“Over the Easter holidays, parents should ensure that their children understand the fire risks to help protect our open spaces.”

The LFB also urged Londoners “to take steps to ensure they are not inadvertently starting a fire.

“They can do this by not using barbecues in open spaces or on balconies, including disposable ones, to throw rubbish away, and to dispose of cigarettes carefully.”

It comes as firefighters continue to battle major blazes in Northern Ireland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service issued “extreme” wildfire warnings for Thursday in south-west, eastern, central and northern Scotland.

The drier weather conditions experienced since last week also saw fires reported in Leicestershire, Dorset, South Wales and Scotland.

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Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said: “We’ve got high pressure at the moment, which effectively acts like a force field.

“It actually keeps fronts and clouds largely at bay and keeps conditions settled and dry underneath the area of high pressure.”

However, Sky News’ weather producer Joanna Robinson said conditions would change after Saturday.

“By Sunday, daytime temperatures will be a little below average in the north-west, struggling to reach double figures for some,” she said.

“Meanwhile, it’ll still be on the warm side in the south-east, where 17-19C is likely.

“Sunday will also bring widespread showers, some heavy with hail and thunder possible. I’m sure it’ll be welcome rain for farmers and gardeners, less welcome for those wanting a BBQ.”

Last Friday became the hottest day of the year so far when 23.7C (74.66F) was recorded in Otterbourne, Hampshire.

Andrew Tate pointed a gun at a woman’s face and told her to do as he said, according to court documents seen by Sky News.

Warning: This article contains graphic details of alleged sexual abuse

The controversial social media influencer allegedly told her: “I’m a boss, you’re going to do as I say or there’ll be hell to pay.”

The woman, who worked for Tate on his online webcam business, alleges he threatened her daily.

She is one of four women who have launched a civil claim against Tate in the UK, with allegations including rape, assault and coercive control.

A spokesperson for Tate said he “categorically denies” the allegations.

In a statement, the spokesperson said: “Mr Tate categorically denies these unproven and untested allegations.

“Specifically, he denies ever threatening anyone with a firearm, engaging in non-consensual acts or subjecting any individual to physical or psychological harm.

“These are civil claims, brought years after the alleged events and following a CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) decision not to pursue criminal charges.

“It is deeply troubling that such graphic and one-sided accounts are being publicised before any judicial assessment has taken place.

“This type of reporting undermines the presumption of innocence and shapes public perception in a way that is fundamentally unjust.

“We have seen other high-profile cases where similarly serious allegations collapsed under scrutiny – but only after irreparable reputational harm had already been done.

“Mr Tate will defend himself vigorously and remains confident the truth will prevail.”

The civil action was launched in the High Court in London last week, and a preliminary hearing is to be held next week.

In the court documents, he describes the allegations as “a pack of lies”, and in a detailed response said: “There may have been a toy gun in the flat.”

The woman worked for Tate in Luton in 2015 and is claiming damages for “assault, battery and/or intentional infliction of harm, including rape”.

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Tate, 37, and his brother Tristan, 35, are facing a trial in Romania, where they have been living for the past two years, on charges of sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

The Romanian authorities have agreed that after the completion of their own criminal justice process, the brothers can be extradited to the UK on allegations of rape and human trafficking.

The brothers, who have joint UK and US citizenship, are also under criminal investigation in Florida, where they visited recently after a Romanian judge lifted a travel ban on them.

They are currently in Dubai, but must return to Romania.

The four women claim Tate strangled them during sex, and two developed red spots from burst capillaries in their eyes from asphyxia.

In an interview with Sky News last year, one of the claimants said she had consensual sex with Tate during a normal relationship with him, but once lost consciousness when he strangled her.

She said: “We were having sex and he put his hands round my throat and strangled me until I lost consciousness. And when I came round he was still having sex with me, still on top of me.

“The next day, all the white had gone completely red in one of my eyes. I looked it up afterwards and it was just lack of oxygen to your brain where your blood vessels start bursting to try and get more oxygen into your brain. That was quite scary.”

She said she didn’t call police because she was young, inexperienced and didn’t realise how dangerous the encounter had been.

The government will fund any further local inquiries into the grooming gangs scandal that are deemed necessary, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

However, the prime minister said it is his “strong belief” that the focus must be on implementing recommendations from the Alexis Jay national review before more investigations go ahead.

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It follows a row over whether Labour is still committed to the five local inquiries it promised in January, after safeguarding minister Jess Phillips failed to provide an update on them in a statement to parliament hours before it closed for recess on Tuesday.

Instead, Ms Phillips told MPs that local authorities will be able to access a £5m fund to support locally-led work on grooming gangs.

On Thursday morning, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper insisted the “victim-centred, locally-led inquiries” will still go ahead, while a Home Office source told Sky News more could take place in addition to the five.

Speaking to Sky News’ Rob Powell later on Thursday, Sir Keir confirmed that there could be more inquiries than those five but said the government must also “get on and implement the recommendations we’ve already got”.

The prime minister said: “Of course, if there’s further local inquiries that are needed then we will put some funding behind that, and they should happen.

“But I don’t think that simply saying we need more inquiries when we haven’t even acted on the ones that we’ve had is necessarily the only way forward.”

Ms Phillips’s earlier comments led to accusations that the government was diluting the importance of the local inquiries by giving councils choice over how to use the funds.

Sky News understands she was due to host a briefing with MPs this afternoon at 5pm – the second she had held in 24 hours – in an attempt to calm concern amongst her colleagues.

Review recommendations ‘sat on a shelf’

Sir Keir insisted he is not watering down his commitment for the five local enquiries, but said the Jay recommendations were “sitting on a shelf under the last government” and he is “equally committed” to them.

He added: “At the most important level, if there is evidence of grooming that is coming to light now, we need a criminal investigation. I want the police investigation because I want perpetrators in the dock and I want justice delivered.”

In October 2022, Professor Alexis Jay finished a seven-year national inquiry into the many ways children in England and Wales had been sexually abused, including grooming gangs.

Girls as young as 11 were groomed and raped across a number of towns and cities in England over a decade ago.

Prof Jay made 20 recommendations which haven’t been implemented yet, with Sir Keir saying on Thursday he will bring 17 of them forward.

However, the Tories and Reform UK want the government to fund a new national inquiry specifically into grooming gangs, demands for which first started last year after interventions by tech billionaire Elon Musk on his social media platform X.

‘Fuelling confusion’

Reform leader Nigel Farage said the statement made by Ms Phillips “was one of the most cowardly things I have ever seen” as he repeated calls for a fresh inquiry.

Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, also told Sky News that ministers were “fuelling confusion” and that the “mess.. could have been avoided if the government backed a full national inquiry – not this piecemeal alternative”.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the government needed to look at “state failings” and she would try and force a fresh vote on holding another national inquiry, which MPs voted down in January.

‘Political mess’

As well as facing criticism from the Opposition, there are signs of a backlash within Labour over how the issue has been handled.

Labour MPs angry with government decision grooming gangs

Mhari Aurora

Political correspondent

@MhariAurora

With about an hour until the House of Commons rose for Easter recess, the government announced it was taking a more “flexible” approach to the local grooming gang inquiries.

Safeguarding minister Jess Philips argued this was based on experience from certain affected areas, and that the government is funding new police investigations to re-open historic cases.

Speaking on Times Radio, former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission Sir Trevor Phillips called the move “utterly shameful” and claimed it was a political decision.

One Labour MP told Sky News: “Some people are very angry. I despair. I don’t disagree with many of our decisions but we just play to Reform – someone somewhere needs sacking.”

The government has insisted party political misinformation was fanning the flames of frustration in Labour.

The government also said it was not watering down the inquiries and was actually increasing the action being taken.

But while many Labour MPs have one eye on Reform in the rearview mirror, any accusations of being soft on grooming gangs only provides political ammunition to their adversaries.

One Labour MP told Sky News the issue had turned into a “political mess” and that they were being called “grooming sympathisers”.

On the update from Ms Phillips on Tuesday, they said it might have been the “right thing to do” but that it was “horrible politically”.

“We are all getting so much abuse. It’s just political naivety in the extreme.”

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‘We will leave no stone unturned’

Ms Phillips later defended her decision, saying there was “far too much party political misinformation about the action that is being taken when everyone should be trying to support victims and survivors”.

“We are funding new police investigations to re-open historical cases, providing national support for locally led inquiries and action, and Louise Casey… is currently reviewing the nature, scale and ethnicity of grooming gangs offending across the country,” she said.

“We will not hesitate to go further, unlike the previous government, who showed no interest in this issue over 14 years and did nothing to progress the recommendations from the seven-year national inquiry when they had the chance.

“We will leave no stone unturned in pursuit of justice for victims and will be unrelenting in our crackdown on sick predators and perpetrators who prey on vulnerable children.”