London is sweltering on the UK’s hottest day of the year with temperatures already topping 34.8C in the south-east of England.
Hot and humid air is sweeping over the capital, East Anglia and the home counties, bringing a forecast high of 34C in capital - and possibly 35C elsewhere in southern England.
The Met Office said: “It’s been the hottest day of 2024 so far with 34.8C recorded in Cambridge today.
“Provisionally this is only the 11th year since 1961 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.”
However it will be notably cooler further north with 26C expected in Manchester and 21C in Edinburgh - with thunderstorms on the cards.
The sizzling temperatures have already beaten the previous hottest day of the year, when London saw a high of 31.9C on July 19, with 33.4C recorded in Wisley, Surrey.
But temperatures are unlikely to exceed the 40.3C recorded at Coningsby, Lincolnshire, on July 19 2022, the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK, according to forecasters.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued a yellow heat health warning for much of the UK through to 9am on Wednesday.
Met Office forecaster Craig Snell said: "It's going to be hot. The weather is coming with a lot of humidity, so it will feel quite uncomfortable out there across central eastern England.”
