The UK has experienced the hottest late-August bank holiday Monday on record, the Met Office has said, with much of the south and south-east recording above average temperatures and the mercury peaking at 28.2C at Holbeach in Lincolnshire.

The previous record was 27.2C recorded in East Bergholt in Suffolk in 1984.



People flocked to beaches and parks to make the most of the fine weather – the month’s hottest day so far – with the south-east of England and east of Wales experiencing the best of the sunshine and temperatures reaching the mid-20s or higher. In London, 19C was recorded before 10am.

Chris Page of the Met Office said: “There was dry and fine weather with light winds across much of southern England and the east of Wales. Across the south-east corner, temperatures were hovering around the 28C mark in many areas including St James’s Park and Kew Gardens in London, Heathrow and Gravesend in Kent.

“Coastal areas have been slightly cooler where sun seekers were able to enjoy more of a breeze. Brighton reached 22C while Norfolk enjoyed highs of 27C. Sea temperatures have been between 17C and 18C.”

People sunbathe on Brighton beach. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA

Elsewhere, there were decent spells of prolonged sunshine, and most of England and Wales enjoyed clear skies and temperatures around the mid-20s.

Monday’s high of 28.2C recorded in Lincolnshire topped the hottest temperature recorded across the UK the previous day in London at 27C.

However, cloud and light rain scattered across northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland where temperatures were pinned back to the high teens.

The south-east corner of Kent is set to hold on to the warmth on Tuesday with elsewhere feeling fresher and cooler. Temperatures are expected to hover around 26-27C in London with more cloud coming in towards the end of the day.

Records for the hottest August bank holiday have been kept since 1965, when it was moved from the first Monday of the month to the last.



The new record followed an unsettled start to the month. Temperatures for August had been about average, with highs in the low 20s for parts of England and Wales.

But there was a split between the balmy conditions in south-east England and those further north, with cloud coverage increasing north of Manchester and rain in parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The weather is set to further deteriorate with increasingly windy, cloudy and wet conditions in the north-west moving south-eastwards.

Light rain would reach northern England and Wales overnight, though the warm, dry weather would extend into Tuesday in the south.



The RAC had predicted that there would be about 5m cars on the roads for “leisure trips” on Monday – the busiest day of the long weekend – as people went out for the day or returned home from a longer stint away.

The AA reported slow-moving traffic on the A329 as people left the Reading festival, which ended on Sunday, and on the A429 due to the Wellesbourne airfield market.

In west London, extensive road closures were in place for the last day of the Notting Hill carnival, with traffic slow moving in the vicinity of Edgware Road, Holland Park Avenue, Scrubs Lane, Harrow Road, Notting Hill Gate and Bayswater Road.



Roads closures in place from Harrow Road in the north, Notting Hill Gate in the south, North Pole Road in the west and Queensway in the east were scheduled to remain in place until about 5am on Tuesday. Full updates are available on TfL’s website.