The United Kingdom set a new May heat record when 33.5C was measured at London Heathrow, west of the capital. The reading surpassed the previous May high of 32.8C, first recorded in 1922 and matched again in 1944.
The Met Office said the temperature was measured during a strong late-spring heatwave affecting parts of England, including London and the southeast. It said records are usually broken by only a few tenths of a degree, underscoring the significance of the new mark.
Heathrow, one of the busiest airports in Europe, also serves as a key weather reference point for London. The latest reading adds to a series of extreme heat events in the UK, including the national temperature record set in July 2022.