Cornwall joins record-breaking UK heatwave as tropical nights continue

According to weather Kernow Weather Team forecaster Dave Clark, multiple UK temperature records have provisionally been broken during the exceptional spell of heat.

At Kew Gardens in London, temperatures reached 35.1°C on Tuesday after climbing to 34.8°C on Monday. The previous UK May temperature record was 32.8°C, set in both 1922 and 1944.

Meanwhile, Cornwall has also been seeing unusually high temperatures and exceptionally warm nights.

Camborne recorded a minimum overnight temperature on Tuesday night of 21.4°C, meaning temperatures stayed above 20°C overnight in what meteorologists describe as a “tropical night”.

Forecasters say it is the third consecutive night Cornwall has broken the UK record for the highest May minimum overnight temperature.

The Met Office station at Camborne has already exceeded both its previous May temperature record and its highest recorded June temperature. The previous June maximum stood at 27.7°C, recorded in 2017.

Dave Clark said some local weather stations across Cornwall had been recording temperatures even higher than official Met Office sites due to local microclimates, sheltered inland areas and reduced sea breezes.

The weather pattern has been driven by strong high pressure, very warm continental air, light winds, Saharan dust and high UV and pollen levels.

Forecasters say conditions have felt unusually tropical for late May, with many people struggling to sleep during the warm overnight temperatures.