UK records highest ever May temperature for second day in a row

London has recorded temperatures in the mid 30s for two consecutive days. Photograph: Jack Taylor/Reuters

The UK has recorded its highest ever May temperature for the second consecutive day, as thermometers hit 35.1C at Heathrow and Kew Gardens in London, the Met Office has said.

The latest high was recorded the day after the country’s provisional hottest meteorological spring temperature, of 34.8C in Kew Gardens in south-west London. The previous May peak of 32.8C had stood since 1922.