Parts of Britain could be hotter than Hawaii today as Britain enjoys its warmest day of the year so far while forecasters also warned of possible heavy rain and thunder.
Temperatures could reach 27C (81F) in London and East Anglia at the end of the working week – but changeable weather is on the way for the bank holiday weekend.
Such a high would make today the UK’s warmest day of 2026 so far – more than three weeks after the existing record of 26.6C (79.9F) was set in London on April 8.
The hottest areas this afternoon will also be warmer than Honolulu where highs of 26C (79F) are forecast. Rome will reach 23C (73F) and Ibiza will get to 19C (67F).
Students at St Andrews welcomed in the new month by taking part in the May Dip, an annual tradition where they run into the sea at sunrise for good luck on exams.
They also held the annual ‘Gaudie’, a torchlit pier walk to honour John Honey, a student who rescued crew members from the shipwrecked Janet of Macduff in 1800.
Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said: ‘We’ve got some very warm, humid air coming up from the South.
Hundreds of students from St Andrews take part in the annual May Dip at East Sands today
Students from St Andrews head into the water early this morning for the annual May Dip
Students from St Andrews in the water at East Sands this morning as the May Dip is held
Students from St Andrews today during the annual Gaudie, a torchlit pier walk to honour John Honey, who rescued crew members from the shipwrecked Janet of Macduff in 1800
Some 3,000 students from St Andrews take part in the annual Gaudie this morning
‘That means we will see some very warm weather, particularly in the east and the South East, because there we’ll see the best of the sunshine.
‘Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean everybody’s going to get a warm, dry, beautiful day.’
Cloud over the central spine of the UK, from Scotland, the Pennines and into the Midlands could produce some heavy rain today.
‘Certainly the odd rumble of thunder is possible there, particularly over the Midlands,’ Mr Partridge said.
Today’s highs in London and the South East will be around 10C higher than averages for the time of year, which are 15C to 17C, the Met Office said.
Meanwhile, Cardiff could be warmer than Athens, where forecasters are predicting a high of 14C on Friday, which is 5C cooler than the estimated top temperatures in the Welsh capital.
The warm weather still falls short of the record high in April of 29.4C, which was recorded at Camden Square in London in 1949, Met Office records show.
Weather over the May Day weekend will be ‘a different story’ though, with changeable conditions forecast across the UK.
‘The weekend is a bit of a different story, really,’ said Mr Partridge.
‘There will be some bright spells in there as well on Saturday, but there will also be showers, particularly across northern and western parts of the UK.’
Rain is forecast across the country on Sunday and temperatures will continue to cool towards averages for the time of year.
‘By the time we get to Monday, we’re actually going to see temperatures roughly where they should be for this time of year,’ Mr Partridge said.
‘We’re looking at elevens and twelves (degrees Celsius) in the north and fifteens and sixteens in the south, so it will feel quite fresh and chilly compared to what we’ve had.’
The RAC estimates 19million leisure trips will take place by car between today and Monday, just behind the record 20million forecast for the same period in 2016.
Some 39 per cent of respondents to a survey of 2,218 UK drivers commissioned by the motoring services company last week said they intend to take to the road for a day trip or overnight break over the four days.
This is despite the recent surge in fuel prices sparked by the US-Israeli war on Iran , which started on February 28. Compared with a year ago, the cost of filling a typical 55-litre family car with petrol or diesel has increased by £13 and £27 respectively.