Met Office records hottest ever May day as 35C heatwave hits London

There is currently an amber health warning in the south west, south east, London, east of England, and east and west Midlands; it will remain in effect until Thursday at 5pm.

Meanwhile, the Met Office issued a separate yellow weather alert for thunderstorms across England on Tuesday, with potential for as much as 30mm of rainfall.

Yesterday, temperatures climbed to 34.8C at Kew Gardens in west London.

The previous May peak had stood since 1922 when Camden Square experienced a high of 32.8C.

A Met Office spokesman said: "We've now exceeded that record on consecutive days by a full two degrees Celsius."

Emergency services reported two deaths over the bank holiday weekend.

Reco Pinnock, 13, died on Monday after getting into difficulty at Leadbeater Dam near Halifax, West Yorkshire.

He was pulled from the water and rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

And just 55 miles away, police confirmed the body of a second boy was found after he was last seen entering the water at Rother Valley Country Park near Rotherham.

Yesterday evening, the UK experienced a “tropical night”, which is defined as when temperatures do not fall below 20C.

Kenley Airfield in south London recorded an overnight temperature of 21.3C.

For the UK to be in a heatwave, the mercury must surpass a specific temperature for three consecutive days.

The highest heatwave threshold in Britain at this time of year is 28C.

Heatwave conditions were already met in parts of London, Oxfordshire, Suffolk and Essex.

The country is forecast to cool from the middle of the week, although it is expected to be largely dry with sunny spells, with temperatures in the high 20s.

Amid the scorching three-day weekend, firefighters worked throughout the night to tackle a grass fire near Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh as temperatures in the Scottish capital tipped 25C.

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