How long will the heatwave last?

Image source, Jack Taylor / Reuters

• Published3 hours ago

There is an end in sight to the UK's record-breaking heat after a new national temperature record for May was set on Tuesday.

For a second day in a row, the temperature exceeded 34C in south-east England and a new May record of 35.1C was recorded at Kew Gardens in London.

It follows a remarkable few days of searing heat that saw six amber heat health alerts issued across south-west England, the West Midlands, East Midlands, east of England, south east and London regions.

Monday and Tuesday saw nearly all weather stations across England and Wales break their local temperature records for May.

When will the heat ease off?

Cooler air will move in across northern and eastern of areas of England on Wednesday and bring a break to the heatwave.

However, the heat will remain across Wales, the West Country and south-west England and still likely in heatwave threshold.

On Wednesday, with cooler air spreading in across northern England, the Midlands and eastern England some locations will see a 10-degree drop in temperature.

Maximums will be around 19-23C.

Though London and south-east England will still get temperatures up to 27C, it won't be 28C needed to officially continue the heatwave.

However, Wales and south-western England will remain fairly hot, away from the cooler air moving in. Highs here could still reach 30C.

By Thursday, the supply of cooler air will be cut off as hot air re-surges from France once again. This means that temperatures will increase, with 30C back on the cards.

Most weather forecast models show that cooler weather will gradually come in again from Friday and into the weekend.

The jet stream, currently to the north of us, will wobble back southwards, meaning areas of low pressure, occasional rain, stronger winds and a drop in temperature as we head into the first week of June.

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How extreme has this heatwave been?

Meteorologically speaking, the UK is still in spring.

And with temperatures across many parts of the UK ranging from 10 to 15 degrees above normal, this early heatwave is unprecedented.

Ed Hawkins, professor of climate science at the University of Reading told the BBC that this heatwave "stands out".

Since record-keeping began in the UK, there have only been a handful of years when temperatures reached or exceeded 30C in May.

Within this May heatwave however most of England and parts of Wales has seen temperatures soar above 30C for more than a couple of days in places.

Values in the mid-30s were once uncommon in the British Isles even at the height of summer.

With climate change we've seen average temperatures rise and this means "today's heat events are emerging earlier, intensifying faster and occurring across a much warmer background climate", Prof Hawkins said.

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