MAY HOORAY!
Today is hottest May Day on record, Met Office confirms – as temps soar to balmy 28C and Brits flock to parks & beaches
Scroll down for the Bank Holiday weekend forecast
TODAY is the warmest start to May on record, the Met Office has confirmed.
The recent warm spell is the hottest start to the month since records began - and temperatures could go even higher.
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Forecasters predict temperatures could even hit 30C in some parts of the country.
A temperature of 28C was recorded at Kew Gardens, in South-West London this afternoon.
The previous record for May Day was 27.4C recorded at Lossiemouth, Moray, on May 1, 1990.
Last summer wasn't even close to being this hot, with the average temperature only being 14C.
It was the coolest summer since 2015, which saw average temps of 13C.
The Met Office said in a post on X: "With the temperature at Kew Gardens reaching 28C and still climbing, it is now officially the warmest start to May on record for the UK.
"The previous May 1st record high temperature was 27.4C at Lossiemouth in Scotland in 1990."
Met Office Meteorologist Aidan McGivern said: “High pressure sat over the UK for the first two weeks of April as well as the last week, with low pressure bringing some unsettled weather in the middle. This has meant temperatures have been above average, and rainfall, for most, has been below.
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“The last week of April has closed out with temperatures well above the seasonal average, with station records for temperatures and sunshine broken.
“The reason for the high temperatures over the last week has not been because we’ve been importing warm air from the south, but because cloud-free skies have brought strong solar insolation, warming the air up day-by-day.
"The sun is as strong at this time of year as it is in August. Under high pressure, the air tends to sink, get compressed, and warm up. So, it’s fair to say that this latest period of very warm weather has been ‘home-grown’ and not brought in from anywhere else.”
It comes after Brits flocked to parks and beaches yesterday to make the most of the hot weather.
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The five day forecast
The warm weather won't last long enough to count as a heatwave.
Today:
Cloud and showers, locally heavy, will move southeast across Scotland and Northern Ireland into northern England. Turning drier and brighter, but cooler behind. Hot sunshine elsewhere, with heavy showers and isolated thunderstorms through the afternoon.
Friday:
Some showery rain across central areas at first, though dying out during the morning. Cooler with variable cloud and scattered showers in the north, whilst remaining warmer in the south.
Saturday-Monday:
Scattered showers in the south at times, and a few further north, though a lot of dry weather for many with some sunshine. Temperatures dropping, becoming rather cool in places.
One Scot was even snapped working from the park, sunbathing with a laptop on her legs.
Met Office meteorologist Michael Silverstone said: “If we reach 30C on Thursday, it will be the earliest date in May that the UK has seen 30C since our records began in 1860.”
The Met Office said temperatures reached 26.7C in Wisley, Surrey on Wednesday.
The warm weather could also challenge the record for the highest April temperature in Wales, which is 26.2C.
But temperatures are expected to ease by Friday, and Saturday will bring cooler conditions of 14C to 18C across the UK.
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) has urged caution around open-water swimming after a 32 per cent increase in water-related incidents last month compared with the same period last year.
Craig Carter, LFB assistant commissioner for prevention and protection, said: “Even when the sun is shining, water temperatures can be dangerously cold.
"Cold water shock can affect anyone, no matter how fit or experienced they are.
“It can lead to water inhalation and, in the worst cases, drowning. Be particularly careful near the water’s edge, it’s easy to slip and fall unexpectedly. And think twice before jumping into open water.”
It comes after Brits basked in sunshine yesterday.
Temperatures hit 28C in London and the South East, and 25C in the Midlands.
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland largely topped 20C too — on a par with holiday hotspots such as Ibiza and Benidorm.
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But this made no difference to streets in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, which remain bedecked with unlit fairy lights four months after the festive period ended.
The volunteer-run Christmas light committee said it hasn’t got the money for a cherry picker to get them down.
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Heart sinks... with car
A BUILDER on a romantic first date had to spend five hours trying to dig his car out of the sand.
His Jeep Cherokee was finally freed after he recruited a team of sunbathers at Boscombe beach in Bournemouth.
An onlooker said: “He said there probably wouldn’t be a second date.”
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