Hottest May in 100 years

And don’t put away that suncream – the start of June looks promising too

AFTER blizzards, bitterly cold spells and the Beast from the East at the start of the year, for many May was a welcome relief.

And if the weather in recent weeks has felt unseasonably sultry, that is because it was.

For the UK has just enjoyed its hottest and sunniest May on record, sending millions flocking to the beach.

The average daytime maximum temperature was 62.6F (17C), beating the previous high of 62.4F (16.9C) in 1992, according to provisional figures from the Met Office, which has been keeping details of average temperatures for more than a century. The total of 245.3 hours of sunshine was also a record since it began collecting data in 1929.

The May Day bank holiday, when the country basked in record temperatures, was a foretaste of what was to come as Britons swapped umbrellas for sunglasses and suncream.

And while the ‘ mother of all thunderstorms’ brought flash floods to many areas in the past week – adding to the tropical feel – rainfall in May was well below normal. In England it was 72 per cent of the long-term average for the month, in Wales 62 per cent and in Scotland just 55 per cent. Northern Ireland had 80 per cent of the average May rainfall.

Tim Legg, of the Met Office National Climate Information Centre, said: ‘Increased sunshine during the month has helped to keep daytime temperatures high, leading to it provisionally being the warmest May since records began in 1910. It is also likely to be the sunniest May.’

For farmers, the balmy May weather will have been a mixed blessing, with warm temperatures helping crops to grow but lack of rainfall having the opposite effect.

The hot weather is set to continue, with prolonged spells of sunshine forecast for the weekend and much of the next seven days.

Although some rain is expected over the weekend, with thundery showers expected to continue in parts of the North today, high pressure systems are expected to sweep Britain bringing in dry and balmy weather – and relief from a series of violent storms that caused disruption to transport.

Southern areas will enjoy temperatures of up to 79F (26C) tomorrow, while northern England could reach 72F (22C).

A MeteoGroup forecaster said: ‘For the most part of the next week high pressure is expected to be the dominant feature.

‘This would suggest a good deal of fine and dry weather. Temperatures will dip during the first part of the week, then climb through the second half, perhaps becoming very warm by Friday. Next week could be very promising.’