NewsUK NewsMet OfficeTuesday is the hottest day in May on record, with temperatures soaring to 35C at Heathrow and Kew Gardens in London, the Met Office said - this is a breaking story15:22, 26 May 2026Updated 15:40, 26 May 2026The UK has recorded its hottest day in May on record, with temperatures soaring to 35C at Heathrow and Kew Gardens in London, the Met Office has said.‌The provisional figures recorded on Tuesday came after a scorching bank holiday weekend that saw the UK break its previous record for the hottest May temperature, with Kew Gardens reaching 34.8C. Until that day, the all-time May peak stood at 32.8C and had been reached in 1922 and 1944.‌The Met Office listed 12 locations where the record was topped on Monday - ranging from Suffolk to Berkshire to Warwickshire - while 97 of its sites reached or surpassed 30C.‌Content cannot be displayed without consentIt comes after the UK’s warmest May night was measured on Sunday when temperatures did not fall below 19.4C at Kenley Airfield, Surrey.Many places across England and Wales will reach the heatwave threshold on Tuesday and some will have had five days of it by Wednesday, senior Met Office meteorologist Becky Mitchell said.‌Heatwave conditions were already met in eight parts of England by Sunday night: Heathrow, Kew Gardens and Northolt London; Benson in Oxfordshire; Brooms Barn and Santon Downham in Suffolk; High Beech and Writtle in Essex.That number will be higher after the bank holiday weather but the data is yet to be released, Ms Mitchell said.The fact nearly a hundred sites reached 30C on Monday “goes to show just how many places would have succeeded their heatwave threshold”, she added.‌To qualify as a heatwave, temperatures must meet or surpass a specific threshold for three consecutive days.The highest heatwave threshold in the UK at this time of year is 28C, which applies to London and north of the capital towards Cambridgeshire.Article continues belowTemperatures will start to gradually decline from the middle of the week but it will still be largely dry with sunny spells.The Met Office says in its UK forecast for Wednesday: "Dry for most with sunny spells. Cloudier in the northeast with bright spells developing. Perhaps the odd shower in the west. Very warm in the southwest, but feeling fresher elsewhere."Its outlook for Thursday to Saturday states: "Staying hot across parts of the south through the next few days. A risk of a few thundery showers but turning cloudier and fresher from the west towards the weekend."Choose Daily Mirror as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.‌Breaking NewsMet Office