Light drizzle here.

Just noting down the maxima from that Met Office tweet, for posterity - most of the stations that have beaten the old record (23 of the 29 they mention)

Coningsby 40.3C
Heathrow 40.2C
St James's Park 40.2C
Kew Gardens 40.1C
Northolt 40.0C
Charlwood 39.9C
Gringley on the Hill 39.9C
Cambridge NIAB 39.9C
Wittering 39.9C
Nottingham Watnall 39.8C
Bramham 39.6C
Woburn 39.6C
Bedford 39.5C
Monks Wood 39.5C
Sheffield 39.4C
Sutton Bonington 39.4C
Wisley 39.3C
Marham 39.2C
Holbeach 39.1C
Writtle 39.1C
Santon Downham 39.0C
Wellesbourne 39.0C
Coleshill 38.8C

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Maxed at 39.8° here. Can see the smoke from the fires on Dartford Heath. No surprises. Tinder  dry in this part of the world. Flew to Holland last week and the fields are yellow over the south east. Holland was verdant. This summer it looks like we're lining up more with those Spanish plumes than previous summers. 

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Astonoshing - such a wide area. 

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It does seem like the radar suggests more than is actually reaching the ground - the low humidity causing it to evaporate.

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If Cambridge Naib got to 39.9 there's a good chance botanical gardens will report higher tomorrow

Even the radar is looking fairly underwhelming as it heads east. Doubt if it will even dampen the sandpit that used to be a garden.

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Looking at the min/max bit on my weather station that shows 40.2c as the highest from around 16:30 - the temp has been wobbling around a fair bit today. Not sure if that's due to sensor going from shade to sun as a nearby tree moves or just the wind mixing the air up.

Currently back just under 38c so suspect I've had the highest temps now.

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So Quantum was fairly wrong about places away from the South East taking off this afternoon. I anticipated Lincolnshire would be the place to break record after Heathrow's initial setting.

Surely the only challengers now are Brogdale and Cambridge botanical Gardens, but we have to wait until tomorrow i expect

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Unofficial max here was 39.4c...meanwhile the fallout of this insane spell of weather has wrecked devastation on my local park with some serious wildfires

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/ 

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Still no 5pm update yet for most parts?

Don't we have to wait a few hours before we can rule out 41C, in 2019 we only got confirmation of the record the next day in Cambridge.

 

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A late surge of 38s in Kent but I think overall we have probably peaked. Cambridge down below 38 now.

5pm (1600Z) update:

Humberside 40
WADDINGTON 39.5
CONINGSBY AUTOMATIC 39.4
NORMANBY HALL AUTOMA 39.4
SCAMPTON 39.4
CRANWELL AUTOMATIC W 39.2
WITTERING 39.1
MONKS WOOD AUTOMATIC 39.0
Doncaster Sheffi 39
GRINGLEY ON THE HILL 38.9
EAST MALLING 38.3
LONDON ST JAMESS PAR 38.0
Stansted 38
BEDFORD AUTOMATIC WE 38.0
HOLBEACH NO 2 AUTOMA 38.0
London City 38
Cambridge 38
CAMBRIDGE NIAB AUTOM 37.9
MARHAM 37.7
GOUDHURST AUTOMATIC 37.6



41C may have to wait until next time.

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38C and still rising. Never experienced this kind of hot gusty wind before. Still the unusually low humidity. Remarkable.

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A lot of those stations are well away from the SE, including the new record holder.

Temperatures have peaked in Cambridge as far as I can tell so I don’t see any challenge there. 

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If the high is 'only' 40.3c then Cambridge BG definitely has chance 

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34.8c in Charterhall has made it Scotland's hottest day on record

Still hovering at 38.9C in Pett Bottom after a max of 39.2C. Must be that late afternoon tongue of high uppers that was modelled for the far East of Kent. DP now 11.7C so RH is 19.7% and got to 19.0% earlier, its lowest ever.

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Yes it's a remarkably even spread over a huge area. 

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34.8C Charterhall provisional new Scottish record.

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Tell you something though, it's been this hot that it has been spookily quiet all day here at the harbour area. No loud banging exhausts, no random shouting, it's like living in a ghost town.

Still hanging on at 33.6 C in full sunshine. 

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Are there two official UKMO stations in Cambridge?

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A lot? Erm 4 of the top 5 are London.

Lincolnshire did well but i more suggesting south Yorks which Quantum was keen on. More a south event for me when there was a lot of debate that the usual hotspots were going to miss out or not be the ones to watch today.

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Excellent! So that's all time records for:

• Wales


• Scotland


• England


• UK


• overnight low


• 850hPa temp


• Many many cities and towns

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It would be interesting to know what the high at Humberside airport was. It has been reporting 40C on the METARS for a couple of hours now.

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Cambridge botanical Gardens is potentially a challeneger because you won't know about it until tomorrow. It could have had 40.5 earlier today but we won't know. Same for Brogdale. I'm not talking about current temperatures. It's done now.

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