UK records 'tropical night' after hottest May day for second day running

The United Kingdom endured a "tropical night" on Monday, marking the second consecutive day that record minimum temperatures for May were broken. In south London, temperatures at Kenley airfield failed to drop below 21.3C overnight, a phenomenon defined as a tropical night when the mercury stays above 20C.

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We have provisionally broken the UK record for highest daily minimum temperature in May … again.

This follows the hottest May day since records began, with Kew Gardens in southwest London provisionally reaching 34.8C on Monday. This surpassed the previous all-time May peak of 32.8C, set in 1922 and 1944. The Met Office reported that 12 locations exceeded previous records on Monday, with nearly 100 monitoring sites reaching or surpassing 30C.

Senior forecaster Greg Dewhurst noted the rapid development of recent heatwaves, contrasting them with past events that built over days. He attributed this acceleration to climate change. Highs of 35C were forecast for Tuesday across large parts of southern England and Wales, with the potential to reach near 36C. Some areas were expected to experience heatwave conditions, defined as meeting specific temperature thresholds for three consecutive days, for five days by Wednesday.

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Temperatures didn’t fall below 21.3C overnight at Kenley airfield, making it a ‘tropical night’ (no lower than 20C). Remarkably, the record was also broken yesterday.

While temperatures are predicted to gradually decline from midweek, remaining largely dry with sunny spells, many areas will still see highs in the high 20Cs. The article also briefly mentions a fire incident in Edinburgh's Holyrood Park on Monday evening, attended by emergency services.

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In the past, heatwaves built and built and built and built over days and days and days, these now just develop so quickly.