UK weather live: Heatwave conditions reached in parts of England as temperatures climb for third day
Is this heat unusual?published at 11:39 BST
Matt Taylor
Lead weather presenter
In short …yes!
Okay, we might have seen the temperature hit 30C in May in the past, but the intensity and longevity of the heat is something we haven’t seen before.
30C days in May the UK are actually relatively rare; the last time being in 2012, with only around ten in total recorded over the last 126 years.
However, it is conceivable we could see five or six recorded across the UK this week alone!
That will not only be unusual at any point in the summer, but it will be an historical heatwave for late-spring.
Climate change is believed to play a large role in such hot spells as this.
According to the Met Office’s State of the UK Climate report, the number of days in the UK with temperatures above 28C has more than doubled, and the number of days with temperatures above 30C has more than trebled in the most recent decade, compared with the 1961-1990 average.
