The UK has experienced its hottest day in May ever, breaking the record for a second day in a row, as the thermometer hit 35.1 in Kew Gardens.
The Met Office revealed the temperature recorded in west London, which beat the 34.8C recorded on Monday. Heathrow airport recorded 35C on Tuesday.
The weather agency said: “Until yesterday, the highest temperature in May was 32.8C, but we’ve now exceeded that record on consecutive days by a full two degrees.”
Amber and yellow heat health alerts in place across several regions in England have been extended until 5pm on Thursday.
With a thunderstorm warning that came into force at 3pm, the Met Office warned of disruption, gusty winds and the potential for 30mm of rain in less than an hour.
Four teenagers – three boys and one girl – died in separate water-related incidents over the bank holiday weekend, as a heatwave hit the UK, breaking temperature records for May.
Fire brigade calls nearly double
London Fire Brigade says it had its busiest period of the year so far over the weekend.
Between Friday and Tuesday it received 3,644 calls – nearly double the usual weekend number and up 40 per cent on the same period last year.
Crews attended 2,093 incidents at the weekend, including house fires, a wildfire in Hounslow Heath and fires linked to barbecues.
Jane Dalton26 May 2026 21:30
Records due to climate change ‘mind-bogglingly crazy’, says expert
Peter Thorne, director of the Icarus Climate Research Centre at Maynooth University, said: “We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that heatwave events such as this have been made more likely and more severe due to climate change arising from our emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.
“But nevertheless many of the records being set, particularly in the UK and France, are mind-bogglingly crazy.”
Mr Thorne said 100 years of observational records make it “hard to comprehend” that the UK had broken the all-time May record by more than 2C.
Jane Dalton26 May 2026 21:00
Groundbreaking temperatures ‘extraordinary’
Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said the “exceedingly” hot temperatures were exceptional and “quite worrying”.
Mr Burkill added: “For any time of the year it’s hot, but for May in particular – it is still meteorological spring.
“In terms of how groundbreaking, how historic it is – it’s very similar to that first time that we reached 40C.
“The fact that we’ve exceeded the May temperature by such an amount really is extraordinary and quite worrying.”
Jane Dalton26 May 2026 20:45
Expert fears heatwave will kill at least 250 people
Dr Garyfallos Konstantinoudis, Lecturer at the Grantham Institute – Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London, said: “This exceptional spring heatwave is far more than an uncomfortable disruption to our sleep, work, or study.
“For vulnerable groups without access to cooling – particularly the elderly, the very young, and those with underlying health conditions – these temperatures are quite simply dangerous, and potentially fatal.
“Early-season heatwaves are especially hazardous because our bodies have not had time to acclimatise.
“Our modelling estimates that we could see more than 250 additional deaths during this heatwave in England and Wales. This aligns with a broader analysis we conducted across 854 European cities last summer which revealed that heat caused thousands of preventable deaths – with two-thirds of those fatalities driven directly by the additional heat from climate change.”
Jane Dalton26 May 2026 20:15
Pictured: Heatwave in Amsterdam
Jane Dalton26 May 2026 19:35
Heat warnings in Ireland
Several counties in Ireland have been put under a weather warning during a spell of high temperatures that have already surpassed May records.
Temperatures of 30.5C were recorded in provisional data on Tuesday, according to Met Eireann.
Clare, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Galway, Kilkenny, Laois and Offaly were put under a yellow warning between midday on Tuesday and 6pm on Wednesday.
Jane Dalton26 May 2026 18:59
Fingerprints of climate change all over this, says professor
Friederike Otto, Professor of Climate Science, at Imperial College London, said: “This record-breaking heat has the fingerprints of climate change all over it.
“Temperatures on this scale were once exceptional even at the height of summer.
“Seeing 35C in the UK during spring is absolutely astonishing, but the science is very clear – climate change makes these heatwaves hotter, longer, and far more frequent.
“The climate we are living in today is simply not the one we grew up with, and our buildings and infrastructure are woefully unprepared for what’s next.
“While we have made some progress in cutting emissions, it is not fast enough. Temperature records will continue to tumble until we fundamentally halt global emissions and reach net zero.”
Prof Friederike Otto (@frediotto.bsky.social)
Every year now, the pre-monsoon heat (the hottest time of year in South Asia with temperatures well over 40°C) starts earlier & lasts longer – due to human-induced climate change – exposing 1billion people to deadly heat. @wwattribution.bsky.social https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/climate-change-exposes-hundreds-of-millions-to-longer-and-deadlier-pre-monsoon-heat-in-south-asia/
Jane Dalton26 May 2026 18:36
Temperature rises to 35.1C in Kew Gardens
Today is now the hottest day in May on record for both England and Wales with Kew Gardens provisionally reaching 35.1°C and Cardiff Bute Park reaching 32.9°C ????️ pic.twitter.com/NSnRSuhNHp
— Met Office (@metoffice) May 26, 2026
Harriette Boucher26 May 2026 17:13
UK heatwave has ‘fingerprints of climate change all over it’
Climate correspondent Nick Ferris writes:
The UK’s current record-breaking heatwave has the “fingerprints of climate change all over it,” a leading climate scientist has told The Independent, while warning that the UK government must do much more to adapt to what is the new reality.
Britain is currently experiencing their fifth consecutive day of soaring temperatures, with 35C recorded at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday breaking the May temperature record for the second time in two days.
Locations ranging from Suffolk to Berkshire and Warwickshire have all broken temperature records, according to the Met Office, with the 34.8C recorded in Kew Gardens in London on Monday smashing the former May record of 32.8C – set in 1922 – by a massive two degrees. That record was then increased on Tuesday.
Blistering UK temperatures also meant that London was set to be warmer than temperatures set in Lagos, Cairo or Ho Chi Minh City, according to early forecasts.
Friederike Otto, professor of climate science at Imperial College London, told The Independent that these “astonishing” spring temperatures point to how the climate crisis is now seriously meddling with our weather patterns.
Harriette Boucher26 May 2026 17:03
In pictures: Animals cool off at Chester and Hertfordshire Zoos in sweltering heat
Harriette Boucher26 May 2026 16:55
