One part of the UK could see 36C today

Tuesday is forecast to be even hotter than Monday’s historic bank holiday, with the Met Office warning temperatures could reach 36C in the south east of England by 2pm – a day after Britain recorded its hottest ever May day.

A reading of 34.8C was logged at Kew Gardens in south-west London at around 4pm on Monday, surpassing earlier records of 34C at both Heathrow Airport and Bushy Park in Teddington. Monday’s reading also consigned to history the previous May benchmark of 32.8C, which dated back to a sweltering day in Camden Square, north London, in May 1922 and was equalled at several other sites in 1944. It also beats the bank holiday record of 33.3C set in August 2019.

The Met Office said the 34.8C reading was “exceptional in the UK even in mid-summer, let alone in May.”

How hot was Monday’s bank holiday heatwave?

Up to nine counties recorded all-time temperature highs on Monday during what the Met Office described as a “historic” bank holiday heatwave. Across the entire Met Office network, 97 individual weather stations registered temperatures at or above 30C on Monday alone – a figure senior meteorologist Becky Mitchell described as “a huge number.”

Wales also entered the record books, with a reading of 32.2C at Hawarden Airport in Flintshire on Monday evening overtaking a longstanding Welsh May benchmark of 30.6C from Newport that had remained unbroken for more than eight decades. Greater London, Surrey, Norfolk and Oxfordshire all saw temperatures climb above 32C.

Tens of thousands of Britons flocked to beaches and beauty spots to enjoy the heat, despite official government guidance urging people to stay out of the sun during the hottest parts of the day.

What is the forecast for the rest of the week?

According to the Daily Mail, the capital, the Home Counties and Cambridgeshire face a peak of 36C on Tuesday, with the thermometer remaining stubbornly high for the rest of the working week: 31C on Wednesday, 30C on Thursday and a modest easing to 27C by Friday before edging back up to 28C on Saturday.

Amber and yellow health alerts remain in place across England. The Met Office has described the current spell as “unprecedented” for this time of year.

Tom Morgan, a Met Office meteorologist, said: “We rarely see temperatures above 35C, even in the summer months, so to see temperatures getting close to 35C in May is, as I say, pretty historic.”

Meteorologists attribute the sustained heat to a high-pressure system that has settled over Britain, drawing air downward where it compresses and warms as it descends. To the north, Lerwick in the Shetland Islands will see a peak of just 12C on Tuesday.

Has the heatwave caused any incidents?

The weekend also brought tragedy: a man collapsed and died on the beach at Hastings in East Sussex in what was described as a “medical incident,” and a 15-year-old boy lost his life after getting into difficulty at Swanholme Lakes in Lincoln on Sunday. The Edinburgh Marathon on Sunday saw close to 60 runners require medical attention, several for heat exhaustion, while South East Water reported that approximately 500 homes across Sussex and Kent lost supply or experienced low pressure as demand surged.

What is causing more extreme heatwaves in Britain?

Scientists have described the record-breaking temperatures as a stark reminder of the impact of the climate crisis on life in the UK.

Further heatwaves are expected across the summer due to the emergence of a “super El Niño” — a phenomenon that intensifies weather events including heatwaves by making them hotter and more prolonged.

The super El Niño is predicted to peak in 2027 but is expected to begin making itself felt this summer.

To qualify officially 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 28C, applying to London and the area north towards Cambridgeshire.