UK Sees Tropical Night After Hottest May Day on Record

The UK endured a second consecutive night of exceptional warmth on Monday as the Met Office said the record for the highest daily minimum temperature in May was broken again. Temperatures at Kenley airfield in south London did not fall below 21.3C overnight, surpassing the previous warmest May night recorded on Sunday, when the temperature stayed above 19.4C. The Met Office described the conditions as a “tropical night,” defined as a night when temperatures do not drop below 20C.

The latest warmth came after the UK also recorded its hottest May day since official Met Office records began, with temperatures reaching 34.8C at Kew Gardens in south-west London. That figure also provisionally became the UK’s all-time hottest meteorological spring temperature. The previous May peak of 32.8C had stood since 1922 and 1944. The Met Office said 12 locations, stretching from Suffolk to Berkshire and Warwickshire, broke records on Monday, while 97 monitoring sites reached or exceeded 30C.

Forecasters warned that the intense heat would continue into Tuesday, with highs of around 35C expected across large parts of southern England and Wales, and temperatures potentially nearing 36C in some areas. The Midlands, south-east and south-west England, East Anglia and south Wales were all expected to be affected. The Met Office said many areas in England and Wales had already met heatwave criteria by Monday, with some locations having recorded the required temperatures for several days. In parts of London and surrounding counties, including Heathrow, Kew Gardens and Northolt, the threshold had already been met by Sunday evening.

The warm spell was accompanied by disruption and safety concerns. Firefighters worked through Monday night to tackle a grass fire near Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh after temperatures in the city reached 25C. Smoke rose from the area around the landmark, and residents were advised to keep windows and doors closed. In West Yorkshire, a 13-year-old boy died after getting into difficulty in a reservoir on Monday, according to police, who said he was pulled from the water and taken to hospital before being pronounced dead.

Met Office senior forecaster Greg Dewhurst said the rapid onset of the heat reflected changing weather patterns, warning that heatwaves can now develop far more quickly than in the past. Climate experts said the rising frequency and intensity of extreme heat is linked to global warming driven by greenhouse gas emissions. Gareth Redmond-King of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit said the only way to halt climate change is to cut emissions to net zero, while also adapting to the warming that has already occurred.

Temperatures were expected to ease gradually from midweek, but remain in the high 20s, with dry and sunny conditions likely to continue. Elsewhere in Europe, Spain and France were also forecast to see further new temperature highs as the broader heatwave persisted.