2pm (1300Z) update for those above 35C

Santon Downham 36.4C
Cavendish 36.3C
Heathrow 36.3C
Kew Gardens 36.2C
St James's Park 36.2C
Northolt 36.1C
Stansted 36C (r)
Cambridge 36C (r)
Writtle 35.8C
Lakenheath 35.7C
Cambridge NIAB 35.7C
Wisley 35.7C
Mildenhall 35.6C
Teddington 35.6C
Monks Wood 35.5C
High Beach 35.4C
Chertsey 35.3C
Wellesbourne 35.2C
Coningsby 35.2C
Charlwood 35.1C

2019 for comparison:
Heathrow 37.2C
London City 37C (r)
Kew Gardens 36.7C
Cambridge NIAB 36.4C


Remember though, cloud rapidly built up in the afternoon in 2019 to keep temps down. If somewhere can stay clear today then it could be game on.

I think we may have peaked here, down from 33.4 to 31.9 and rather grey.

My DP has also dropped in the last half hour to 0.1c !! 

Yup, now losing this relative coolness by climbing quickly to 29.4 C (39% H). Starting to feel it indoors too at 31 C in my still shaded west-facing hobby room.

EDIT: Just touched 30 C. Think it'll get to a point where the outside is warmer than indoors. 

Bingo!

Tomorrow's not going to be any cooler, of course, and with a hot night and having the house shut up all day tomorrow it should effortlessly break 40C upstairs tomorrow. The portable a/c unit I have simply won't work in those conditions.

It's easier just to pop half a mile down the road and use a hotel with proper a/c. That also avoids any potential traffic issues, too; memories of last week taking 90 minutes to drive 12 miles as a result of water works (as we had no water for 3 days) means I want to avoid the risk of that happening... I fear my car would conk out in a prolonged traffic jam.

I plan to get proper a/c installed next year, as this spell has reached the limits of what a portable unit can do.

35.5C here now btw, 13.1C dewpoint so at least the winds aren't as desiccating as they could be.

Hope they come asap to remove the nasty clouds that forming around here giving shade up to 10mins ruining the rise, very poor today so far.

33c on phone.

25.3c ground floor.

26c upstairs.

Down to 31.8C and still falling. It really hasn't actually felt notably hot here today - we peaked at 33.5, which is a fair bit lower than in 2019 and 2020, but then today was never going to be a south-central England kind of day. Temperature inside is very bearable, with curtains and windows closed.

I think we will now see the peak of the heat move northwards, so don't discount a record yet in the Cambridge/East Anglia area.

Very hot here and stations around me tend to agree. 3 x 38C and 2 x 36C

That's an extraordinary location to beat it in as well - right on the coast. I wonder what it's like a little way in land - what a shame there aren't more reporting stations in Wales. 

The cloud shows up well but its fairly localised and should not affect the record challenging areas.

Iphone app reporting 36c for Camberley. Where does that take its current conditions from? 
edit: now dropped to 34c, bloody cloud!

30.3c here now in Galway with 20c dewpoint   Thank God there is the slightest of breezes (4 knots) which is more than what we got in last year's even worse spell of miserable humid heat. 

That record is going to end up smashed.

Think the Irish record is about to fall.

Weather station in Dublin about 1C out.

Just hit 37.1c here.

Yes 35.3C in Gogerddan beating the old 35.2 in Hawarden in 1990.

Nice image from the Met, showing the pesky cloud across the south that is keeping temps down here. Looks very clear in the hot spot around Cambridge though!

Working from home today, I can see the high cloud to the south of us as it approaches London. I'm expecting sunshine to become increasingly hazy from now on. Temperature here appears to have levelled out for the moment at around 35C