Heat Relents Slightly

It's hard to believe that meteorological summer actually gets under way in a few days' time given the exceptional heat that we have seen over the last couple of days. Yesterday saw a new May record set again - one day after the previous record was broken - as temperatures soared to 35.1°C at Kew Gardens in London. Wales also experienced its hottest-ever May day as Bute Park in Cardiff hit 32.9°C, whilst over in Ireland a new record was also set as the mercury soared to 30.5°C in County Carlow.

If you are in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you are probably wondering what all the fuss is about as it has been much cooler here, but there should be some warm sunny spells around in the north and west today with temperatures into the low twenties, so much warmer than recently. Elsewhere, we do have more of an east to north-easterly breeze today which is bringing some relief from the hot weather. This wind is bringing some low cloud and the odd patch of drizzle to many eastern and north-eastern regions of the UK this morning, but this will gradually burn back to the coast today with many places enjoying another mostly fine and dry day. There will be quite a wide range of temperatures again, with eastern coasts struggling into the low teens, but for many places values will be in the range of 22°C to 25°C. However, for parts of the south and southwest of England along with south Wales, it will be another hot day with highs of 29°C to 32°C.

Later this afternoon, some scattered heavy showers and thunderstorms could break out over parts of Wales and southwest England, and these could move northeast into parts of the Midlands and northwest England this evening, although they will again be hit-and-miss affairs. Otherwise, a largely dry night follows with some mist and low cloud forming in places. Tomorrow is then set to be a fine and very warm day in many regions, with temperatures widely above normal, although not quite at the levels seen earlier in the week. However, the west and southwest will see more cloud with the risk of a few showers.

METEOROLOGIST: BARBER