UK has hottest day of year so far as temperatures hit 38.1C

The UK has recorded its hottest day of the year so far, as temperatures provisionally reached 38.1C at Kew Gardens in London, the Met Office said.

The new high is the second time this year the country has seen temperatures reach 38C, and it surpasses the previous hottest day of 2026 when 38C was recorded in the late June heatwave as the UK struggled under a rare “red warning” for extreme temperatures.

The only other time temperatures have reached 38C twice in a year was in 2022 when the UK recorded its hottest ever temperatures, the Met Office said.

It also means Thursday is the fifth hottest day on record.

The latest record comes as much of England is under an amber warning for extreme heat, in the face of the fifth heatwave in a summer which has also been marked by extremely dry weather and drought for much of England and Wales.

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