Over the course of this week, temperatures in Spain are expected to soar well above the seasonal average. Daytime temperatures could reach about 30C in Madrid on Tuesday, 10C above the norm, while Seville may experience 34C, about 9C above its late April average. An area of low pressure situated out in the Atlantic will allow for a south-westerly flow, introducing warm air from north Africa. In addition to this heat, a notable dust plume is expected to travel northwards from the Sahara, covering the skies above Iberia and south-western France, which may lead to some particularly orange or red skies at sunrise and sunset.

In Brazil, high temperatures are forecast for the states of São Paulo, Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul and Santa Catarina over the next few days, eventually spreading into Minas Gerais. Here, daytime maximum temperatures are expected to reach the high 30s celsius later in the week, about 5-10C above the seasonal average.

Botswana and South Africa are expected to see some severe thunderstorms on Tuesday. In the heaviest downpours, rainfall rates could reach 20-30mm an hour, bringing the risk of localised flooding, and there could be frequent lightning and hail.

In North America, a cold plunge that recently brought snow to western parts of the US will be replaced with some exceptional mid-spring warmth this week. The core of the heat will probably be across north-western states including Montana and Nebraska, as well as North and South Dakota where temperatures could soar above 30C – about 15C above the seasonal norm. The anomalous warmth will spread eastwards, with parts of the midwest and north-east forecast to see very high temperatures by the end of the working week.