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Baking Bank Holiday! UK sizzles in record-breaking temperatures (but enjoy it while it lasts)

Britons enjoyed the hottest early May Bank Holiday weekend on record, with record-breaking highs of 28.7C (83.6F).

After days of bright sunshine and scorching weather, England was due to enjoy one more day of heat before cloud and rain moves in later in the week.

Met Office Forecaster Helen Roberts said highs of 28C (82.4F) were expected on Tuesday, with the South East and central southern England seeing the warmest conditions, followed by a “massive drop in temperature” as the week progresses.

She said: “Much of England will have a really decent morning, lots of sunshine.

“It gradually clouds over across West Midlands into the early afternoon, but central and eastern areas tend to hold onto the sunshine for longer.”

There could be thunderstorms late on Tuesday afternoon and into the evening, most likely in East Anglia, London and the South East, the Met Office predicted, with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland expected to be cooler.

From Wednesday, it will be “nowhere near as warm” as the Bank Holiday temperatures, Ms Roberts said, with temperatures staying in the mid teens.

On Monday afternoon the mercury hit 28.7C (83.6F) in Northolt, west London, making it the hottest early May Bank Holiday Monday and weekend since records began.

And those hoping for another hot weekend next weekend will be disappointed, with the forecast due to be “decidedly cooler and more unsettled”.