In Great Britain, Monday was the warmest May day since records began in 1884. The originally announced record of 33.5 degrees measured at London’s Heathrow airport was soon surpassed when the mercury rose to 34.8 degrees in Kew Gardens, located in the southwest of the British capital. TASR informs about it based on Sky News and BBC reports.
The previous May maximum was 32.8 degrees – this temperature was measured in 1922 in two places in Greater London and in 1944 in the spa town of Tunbridge Wells in the county of Kent in the south-east of England. Monday’s temperatures significantly exceeded this level, and May 25, 2026 also became the warmest bank holiday since measurements began. According to meteorologists, records are usually shifted by tenths of a degree, but they call the current jump of two degrees Celsius an anomaly.
Extremely warm weather hit the whole of the UK on Monday. The absolute warmest May day was also recorded in Wales (32.2 degrees at Hawarden airport) and Scotland (Charterhall 25.5 degrees), Northern Ireland had the warmest day this year (24.6 degrees in Hillsborough). The British weather service Met Office said that the country is suffering from an unprecedented heat wave that completely rewrites the historical tables so far.
“Such heat would be unusual in the UK for mid-summer, let alone May,” the Met Office said. South East Water said around 500 properties in Sussex and Kent were either without water or had their supply interrupted due to “increased demand”. Orange heat warnings are in place for large parts of England until Wednesday. The level of UV radiation is also unusually high.
Scientists and government climate advisers last week again warned the British government that the UK is unprepared for a changing climate and urged it to adapt infrastructure such as schools and hospitals to a warming planet. In Ireland, the temperature record of 28.4 degrees set in 1997 in County Kerry was equaled on Monday. The same value was measured this time in Oak Park in County Carlow.
