Summer officially starts on Thursday and Britain will be braced for scorching conditions as temperatures are set to reach highs of 23C in some places.
May had been a brilliant month for the sun worshippers following a miserable April and the mercury will continue to climb as Cardiff and Southampton look to battle for the hottest place to be in the UK.
By Thursday afternoon, the Welsh capital and England's south coast (23C) will both be hotter than Barcelona (22C).