UK records hottest day of the year as temperature hits 34.8C

The UK has seen its hottest day of the year so far after a temperature of 34.8C (94.6F) was recorded in Cambridge, the Met Office has said.

The weather agency said “provisionally this is only the 11th year since 1961 that temperatures as high as this have been recorded”.

“Eight of those years have been since 2000 and six of them have been in the last decade,” it added.

See the five-day forecast for your area

Before today, the hottest day of the year so far was Friday 19 July, when temperatures in central London reached 31.9C (89.4F).

This comes despite the Met Office issuing two yellow weather warnings for thunderstorms for parts of northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Storms and torrential downpours did affect some areas on Monday morning, but were clearing into the North Sea by early afternoon.

Meanwhile, a yellow heat health alert was issued for the East and West Midlands, East of England, South East, South West, North West and London by the UK Health Security Agency.

The alert, which remains in place until 9am on Wednesday, suggests the hot weather may have a minor impact on health and the social care sector.

The Met Office has said that Tuesday will bring outbreaks of rain in the west, while it will remain “largely dry and sunny elsewhere and very warm in the southeast” – where temperatures could reach 29C (84.2F).

Its deputy chief meteorologist Chris Bulmer said: “The UK’s weather is transitioning to a less warm, rather more unsettled period in the coming days.

“A mixture of conditions is likely through the week, with various bands of rain moving from west to east at times, there’s a signal for some more persistent and heavy rain on Thursday for those in northern and western parts of the UK.”

The current hot weather is not considered a heatwave, the Met Office said, as temperatures need to exceed a specific threshold over three consecutive days in order to meet the criteria.

source