Temperatures soared to an 'historic' 35C today as Brits flocked to the coast to bask in the sizzling sun on the hottest May day ever recorded. Up to nine counties - including Greater London, Surrey, Norfolk - saw unprecedented heat, with many exceeding the previous record of 32.8C in 1944.A new record was set at 34.8C in Kew Gardens, south west London - while Heathrow Airport and Bushy Park in Teddington also boasted temperatures within the 34C range.Meanwhile, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland broke their own monthly highs - with temperatures reaching 32.2C, 25.5C and 24.6C respectively.Now, with our interactive tool below you can check how your area squared up with the Mays 25ths of previous decades.It comes as the Met Office said today that eight regions had officially entered heatwave conditions on Sunday, after three days at or above the temperature threshold.These were Heathrow in Greater London, Benson in Oxfordshire, Brooms Barn in Suffolk, High Beech in Essex, Kew Gardens in London, Northolt in London, Santon Downham in Suffolk and Writtle in Essex.The record high temperature of 34.8C was detected at around 4pm, beating previous records earlier in the day - as well as the bank holiday record of 33.3C in August 2019.
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Up to nine counties - including Greater London, Surrey, Norfolk - saw unprecedented heat, with many exceeding the previous record of 32.8C in 1944.
TL;DRAI
The UK set a record May temperature of 34.8°C at Kew Gardens on May 25, with eight regions officially in heatwave conditions — surpassing the 1944 high of 32.8°C. As a "super El Niño" is forecast to intensify from 2027, data centers and on-prem facilities face growing cooling load and energy cost pressure.
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