UK weather: New record set as Britons bask in scorching bank holiday heat

Britain has basked in record-breaking heat after the country saw its hottest ever late-August Bank Holiday Monday.

The mercury hit 33.2C (91.8F) at Heathrow Airport – beating the previous record of 28.2C (87.8F) set at Holbeach in Lincolnshire in 2017.

“The last record has been smacked out of the park,” Met Office forecaster Matthew Box told Sky News.

It comes a day after the UK’s highest temperature during an August bank holiday weekend was recorded as the heat soared to 33.3C (91.9F) at Heathrow on Sunday.

On Monday, temperatures hit 25.5C (77.5F) at Lake Bala in North Wales, while Fyvie Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, saw highs of 25C.(77F).

In Northern Ireland, thermometers peaked at 21.9C (71.4F) at St Helen’s Bay in County Down.

Amid the hot weather, police warned of the dangers of swimming in open weather after a man’s body was pulled from the River Trent in Nottinghamshire after he was seen getting into difficulty.

Meanwhile, the reason why several people started coughing and struggling to breathe on an Essex beach remains a mystery.

Hundreds of families had been enjoying the warm weather at the seafront in Frinton on Sunday afternoon when a large number of people started to feel unwell.

There was speculation that a fuel spill had occurred, but the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said there was no immediate evidence after it sent a counter-pollution aircraft to the scene.

It was also thought to be the hottest Notting Hill Carnival to date as hundreds of thousands danced in the sun in west London.

This bank holiday’s record-breaking heat – caused by warm air being dragged up over the UK from France – follows a relatively wet and cold month so far.

The Met Office said the hot weather is expected to last for the rest of the day, although parts of the country could be in for storms and thunder later in the week.

(c) Sky News 2019: UK weather: New record set as Britons bask in scorching bank holiday heat