UK Weather: Basking Brits to enjoy temperatures up to 34ºC today in hottest day of the year

Brits to sizzle in temperatures up to 34ºC today in one of the UK’s hottest days of the year.

IT reached a record-breaking 32.6ºC at Heathrow Airport yesterday – and it’s going to get even hotter over the next few days. Beaches in Southend, Brighton, and Bournemouth were heaving, with social distancing impossible, as thousands of Brits made the most of furlough and the scorching weather.

Summer heatwave.

The Met Office announced that today could set a new record above the hottest June day ever when temperatures hit 35.6ºC in 1976, this would also beat last year’s hottest June day when highs of around 34ºC were recorded at Heathrow, West London, on June 29.

The hottest day recorded so far was 28.9ºC in May, but today’s temperatures are due to soar past that and hit 32ºC before climbing even higher on Thursday. Met Office forecaster Luke Miall said: “Thursday will probably be the hottest day in the region of 33 or 34 degrees.”

Now for the bad news…

A turn in the weather is expected from around 4pm on Thursday as thunderstorms form in the south-west and south-east of England, Wales, western Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather alert for those areas until 9am on Friday, warning of disruption due to flooding, lightning strikes, hail and wind, it has predicted that between 30mm to 40mm of rain could fall in less than two hours.

The stormy weather is expected to continue from midday on Friday through to 6am on Saturday, with another yellow warning in place for the whole of the UK.

Areas hit by the storms could experience “torrential downpours” with 30-50mm of rain falling in an hour, said the Met office.