UK weather: Brits bask in 35C temperatures as country sees hottest day of the year (but thunderstorms are on the way)

The UK has had its hottest day of the year so far after the mercury soared to 35C.

Londoners were seen flocking to lidos and green spaces and basking in glorious sunshine on Friday morning.

By 11am, the temperature in the capital had hit 30C, before a 35C reading was recorded in Heathrow on Friday afternoon.

It makes it the hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures still set to rise.

But the sunshine will be short lived for some, with thunderstorms set to hit parts of the country later this afternoon.

The Met Office warned that gusty winds, hail and “frequent lightning strikes” would come from around 4pm. The “yellow warning” is valid from 4pm until midnight across large parts of east and south-east England where the weather will be at its hottest.

Although a large amount of rain is unlikely, some places may experience heavy downpours and receive as much as 15-20 mm of rain in less than an hour.

The storms will be caused by hot air moving in from mainland Europe, some parts of which will be cooler than the UK.

Popular tourist spots on the continent including Ibiza, Lisbon and Berlin are expected to reach 33C (91.4F), 30C (86F) and 25C (77F) respectively, compared to areas of Kent and Cambridgeshire where the mercury will rise to around 33-34C (93.2F).

The thunderstorms will quickly be followed by cooler weather caused by a weather front moving in from the West, dashing any chances of a UK heatwave.

The Met said the front will result in temperature drops of up to 10C overnight with highs of 26C (78.8F) and 21C (69.8F) in London and Manchester respectively, on Saturday.

Before the onset of bad weather, warm temperatures will be widespread across southeastern areas in Kent and Cambridgeshire, with highs of 33-34C (93.2F) on Friday.

Manchester is expected to peak at 32C (89.6F) and parts of Wales will also reach 30C (86F).

A spokesman for the Met added that popular south-coast destinations such as Devon, Cornwall will stay “fresher”, with temperatures peaking in the mid 20s, and sunseekers in Brighton will enjoy a pleasant 28C (82.4F) high.

“We’ve not seen a temperature anywhere above 30 so far or even with a three in it, that is quite unusual for July,” a Met spokesman said.

“In terms of shifting the overall weather stats for the month, it’s not going to do much to the average.”

The UK average temperature for this July is currently on course to be just 14.1C (57.4F), one degree less than the 1981-2010 long-term average of 15.2C (59.4F), data from the Met shows.

The highest maximum temperature recorded in July before Friday was 28.5C (83.3F) on July 17 at Heathrow Airport.

The UK has already surpassed 100 per cent of the average monthly rainfall and only experienced two thirds (66 per cent) of the expected sunshine for an average July, a total of 113.4 hours, Met Office figures show.

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Brits face hottest day of the year as mercury set to hit 35C- LIVE