What started out as a special weather statement Monday morning quickly progressed to a heat warning in the afternoon.

This is expected to last until at least Saturday, there could also be some warm daytime highs of at least 35 degrees and hotter over the next few days.

Terri Lang, a Meteorologist with Environment Canada, said it's been a warm summer... but this stretch of weather could cause health problems for some.

"This is a long stretch of heat, so it can really start wearing on people," she said. "The studies have indicated that the longer stretches when it doesn't cool off at night and the heat really persists that is when it starts wearing down on people and we start seeing heat effects."

Young children, elderly people, and pets are the most at risk for health problems during extended heat waves according to Lang. The warm weather will be created by a massive ridge of upper-high pressure Lang said, and it will sit over the southwest portion of the province until at least Saturday night.

"These ridges are the ones that bring the really hot and dry weather," she explained. "This is a fairly substantial one, we haven't seen a lot of these so far [this year], this one is kind of building all over western Canada and bringing quite a bit of heat."

As of right now, Environment Canada is calling for a chance of showers during the weekend, which Lang thinks will help break down the massive ridge of upper-high pressure allowing cooler temperatures to move back into the southwest.

Click here to see the full forecast.