The UK’s hottest day of the year so far has been recorded with a temperature of 33.6C (92F) in Frittenden, Kent, the Met Office has said.
The temperature exceeded the previous highest temperature of the year, which was 33.2C in Charlwood, Surrey on 21 June.
On Tuesday afternoon, forecasters said the temperature was “very likely to be exceeded in the coming hours”.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) extended amber heat health alerts for much of the country into Wednesday morning. An amber alert means heat impacts are likely to be felt across the whole health service, and may affect the wider population, not just the most vulnerable.
Last month was the warmest June on record in England and the second-warmest for the UK, according to provisional figures from the Met Office. The mean average temperature for England across the month was 16.9C, beating the previous June record of 16.7C set in 2023. For the UK as a whole, the mean temperature was 15.2C, just behind 15.8C set in 2023. Wales had its third-warmest June, behind 2023 and 2018. Met Office temperature data began in 1884.
Human-caused climate breakdown is making every heatwave in the world more intense and more likely to happen. Scientists said that searing temperatures last month were made 100 times more likely because of human-caused climate change, while the heatwave that gripped south-east England was 10 times likelier.
Conservationists and green experts have also warned of the wildfire risk as well as the effect on farmers, who face another poor harvest after one of the driest springs on record.
Ben McCarthy, the head of nature conservation and restoration ecology at the National Trust, said: “With record-breaking temperatures across the country this week following the driest spring on record, our ranger and countryside teams are on high alert for fires which can cause decades of damage to habitats, decimate ecosystems and result in significant losses to our wildlife.
“Unfortunately, the sad truth is that most of the fires in the UK that impact our landscapes are started by people, whether accidentally or not, rather than by natural causes.
“Therefore, we’re calling on people to help us protect wildlife and habitats by acting responsibly when outdoors, as even a small spark can cause a fire, and to please call 999 if you see a fire or any suspicious behaviour.”
Tuesday will also bring the start of a transition towards more average temperatures for the time of year, as a cooler, wetter front over Scotland and the north of England gradually moves south-east.
