The UK has recorded its hottest May day on record for the second consecutive day, with temperatures reaching 35C at Heathrow and Kew Gardens in London, according to the Met Office.
The provisional temperature, recorded on Tuesday afternoon, follows a scorching bank holiday weekend that saw the previous record of 32.8C, set in 1922 and 1944, broken on Monday when Kew Gardens reached 34.8C. The Met Office reported that 12 locations broke the record on Monday, ranging from Suffolk to Warwickshire, while 97 of its monitoring sites reached or surpassed 30C.
Senior Met Office meteorologist Becky Mitchell said many parts of England and Wales would reach the heatwave threshold on Tuesday, with some areas experiencing five consecutive days of such conditions by Wednesday. Heatwave conditions had already been met in eight parts of England by Sunday night, including Heathrow, Kew Gardens, and Northolt in London; Benson in Oxfordshire; Brooms Barn and Santon Downham in Suffolk; and High Beech and Writtle in Essex.
Temperatures are expected to gradually decline from the middle of the week, although conditions will remain largely dry with sunny spells. The Met Office forecast for Wednesday reads: "Dry for most with sunny spells. Cloudier in the northeast with bright spells developing. Perhaps the odd shower in the west. Very warm in the southwest, but feeling fresher elsewhere."
A climate attribution study published last summer by Met Office scientists found that the likelihood of surpassing the May temperature record has increased significantly due to the climate crisis. The study found that breaking the then 32.8C May record is around three times more likely in today's climate than in a natural climate unaffected by greenhouse gas emissions, with what was once a roughly one-in-100-year event now estimated to occur roughly once every 33 years.
