UK heatwave breaks 100-year-old May record twice in 48 hours, experts issue climate warning

Britain is in the grip of an extraordinary heatwave that has seen the country's May temperature record broken not once but twice within two days. Temperatures hit 35C at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday after 34.8C was recorded at Kew Gardens in London the day before. That Monday reading alone smashed the previous May record of 32.8C set back in 1922 by a full two degrees.Professor Friederike Otto of Imperial College, London told The Independent the temperatures are not a fluke. She said seeing 35C in the UK during spring is "absolutely astonishing" and pointed directly to the climate crisis. She said climate change is making heatwaves hotter, longer and more frequent and warned that temperature records will keep falling until the world reaches net zero emissions.Locations across Suffolk, Berkshire and Warwickshire have all set new local records during the current spell according to the Met Office.The UK Health Security Agency issued its first amber health alert of 2026 last Friday warning of significant pressure on health and social care services. The alert runs until Wednesday.The Climate Change Committee (CCC) published a major report last week warning the government is falling well short on preparing the country for a hotter future. More than nine in 10 homes are not insulated well enough to keep out heat. By 2050 there could be a daily shortfall in water supply of five billion litres. Even at two degrees of global warming temperatures could regularly exceed 40C in parts of the UK. Global average temperatures have already risen by just over 1.3C above pre-industrial levels.The CCC says around £11bn per year is needed for climate adaptation covering hospitals, care homes, food systems and infrastructure.Gareth Redmond-King from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit said the current conditions are dangerous. He said excess deaths rise during periods of extreme heat and noted that when UK temperatures topped 40C for the first time in July 2022 around 3,000 people died. Network Rail issued a do-not-travel warning during that event and thousands of homes lost power.He added that adaptation investment is vital but so is pushing ahead on cutting emissions because there will come a point when adaptation alone is no longer enough. The heatwave is expected to ease from Wednesday with temperatures dropping but remaining in the high 20s.