The United Kingdom endured a so-called 'tropical night' on Monday after the country recorded its hottest May day on record, a milestone that could be surpassed again on Tuesday with forecasts of highs reaching 36 degrees Celsius.
Temperatures at Kenley Airfield in south London did not dip below 21.3 degrees Celsius on Monday night, marking the second consecutive day that the record for the warmest May night was broken, according to the Met Office.
The country also registered its provisional all-time hottest meteorological spring temperature when Kew Gardens in south-west London hit 34.8 degrees Celsius on Monday.
The Met Office listed 12 locations where the previous May record was topped on Monday, spanning from Suffolk to Berkshire to Warwickshire, while 97 of its monitoring sites reached or exceeded 30 degrees Celsius.
The UK's previous warmest May night was recorded on Sunday, when temperatures at Kenley Airfield did not fall below 19.4 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, the hottest May temperature could be broken again on Tuesday, with an expected high of 35 degrees Celsius across large swathes of southern England and Wales, potentially reaching 36 degrees Celsius, the Met Office said.
These forecasts cover the Midlands, the South East, the South West, East Anglia, and South Wales. Thunderstorms could develop in the afternoon, which would affect how hot it gets, the Met Office added.
Many places across England and Wales will reach the heatwave threshold on Tuesday, and some will have experienced five consecutive days of heatwave conditions by Wednesday, said Becky Mitchell, senior meteorologist at the Met Office.
Heatwave conditions had already been met in eight parts of England by Sunday night: Heathrow, Kew Gardens, and Northolt in London; Benson in Oxfordshire; Brooms Barn and Santon Downham in Suffolk; and High Beech and Writtle in Essex. That number is expected to rise after the bank holiday weather, though the data has not yet been released, Ms Mitchell said.
To qualify as a heatwave, temperatures must meet or exceed a specific threshold for three consecutive days. The highest heatwave threshold in the UK at this time of year is 28 degrees Celsius, which applies to London and areas north of the capital towards Cambridgeshire.
Temperatures are expected to gradually decline from the middle of the week, but it will remain largely dry with sunny spells. Many will still experience temperatures in the high 20s Celsius. However, temperatures could drop by around 10 degrees Celsius in eastern areas as a brisk easterly wind develops.
If validated, the latest May record means seven of the 12 monthly highs have been set since 2003, the Met Office said. A previous study by the forecasters found that breaking that record 'is around three times more likely now in our current climate than it would have been in a natural climate not impacted by greenhouse gas emissions.' This means the once-in-a-hundred-year event is now a one-in-33 event, it said.
The heatwave follows last week's lows of minus 5 degrees Celsius in Scotland and daytime temperatures that peaked at about 14 to 15 degrees Celsius more widely.
Amid the bank holiday heat, firefighters worked through the night to tackle a grass fire near Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh as temperatures in the city hit 25 degrees Celsius. Clouds of smoke were seen rising from the area around the natural landmark, and local residents were advised to keep their windows and doors shut as a precaution.
On Monday, a 13-year-old boy died after getting into difficulty in a West Yorkshire reservoir. West Yorkshire Police said the teenage boy was pulled from the water and taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Meanwhile, the AA warned that the interior of vehicles can reach 60 degrees Celsius on a day when the outside temperature is 27 degrees Celsius. The heat is considered dangerous for some vulnerable groups, including older adults, as their bodies struggle to regulate temperature. Age UK recommended staying indoors during the hottest hours of the day, between 11am and 3pm, and taking regular cold baths or showers.
