UK sees hottest day of 2025 as heatwave peaks

The UK experienced its hottest day of the year on Tuesday as a heatwave which has gripped much of England this week reached its peak.

St James's Park in London saw England's top temperature of 34.7C (94.4F), while parts of Essex and Kent also topped 33C.

Temperatures are expected to cool down across the UK on Wednesday.

It comes as the Met Office said last month was the warmest June on record in England, and second warmest in the UK since records began in 1884, according to provisional figures.

In Wales, Tuesday's top temperature was 25.8 in Usk.

But conditions for most people living north of the Midlands were cool and cloudy on Tuesday, with Scotland's high 19.7 in Drumnadrochit and Northern Ireland's 20.5 in Killowen.

Forecasters say temperatures in the south-east will fall to the mid-20s on Wednesday, with some heavy showers across the far south-east of England, north-east England and eastern Scotland.

Flooding alerts have been issued for parts of northern and central Scotland.

However, those in the south-east will still face a warm Tuesday night.

Several amber heat health alerts issued by the UK Health Security Agency remain in place until Wednesday morning for Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London and both south England regions.

It came as Europe remained gripped by an intense heatwave, with France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany and the Balkans all experiencing scorching heat in recent days.

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The average temperature across England was 16.9C throughout June and 15.2C for the UK, according to the Met Office.

That tops June 2023, when the mean temperature was 16.7C - and it comes after the Met Office previously confirmed this spring was the warmest ever.

Little significant heat-related disruption was reported on Tuesday - but in the Scottish Highlands and neighbouring Moray, firefighters tackled moorland wildfires for a fourth day in a row.

This week marked the second UK heatwave of 2025. It lasted six days for parts of Yorkshire and the Humber, and five for people in central and eastern England.

An official heatwave is declared when locations reach a certain temperature for three consecutive days.

The thresholds vary from 25C to 28C in different parts of the country.

• Heatwaves in June more likely due to climate change

While this heatwave is a result of a large area of high pressure getting "stuck" over Europe – dubbed a "heat dome" by some - high temperatures are becoming increasingly common in the UK.

Scientists have emphasised the role of climate change in these sizzling summers, saying that heatwaves will likely become more frequent and hotter in the future.