If you stepped outside this morning and immediately regretted every life choice that led you to not own a paddling pool, you’re not alone. Bank holiday Monday has arrived, and it’s brought the kind of heat that makes the whole country collectively lose its mind in the best possible way.
Temperatures are expected to push past 28°C across parts of southern England today, with the Met Office confirming this could become the hottest May bank holiday on record. That’s not just warm for Britain; that’s genuinely, properly hot by anyone’s standards.
London’s parks are already rammed. Hampstead Heath reportedly had queues for the lido before 9am, and the lido staff described it as “more Benidorm than Belsize Park” by mid-morning. Coastal resorts from Brighton to Bournemouth are bracing for the kind of footfall that empties every 99 Flake from here to Cornwall.
“We sold out of sun cream by half ten,” said one pharmacy worker in Southend. “People always assume they’ve got loads of time. They never do.”
The previous hottest May day on record was 32.8°C, set back in 1944. Meteorologists aren’t ruling out getting close to, or potentially nudging past, that figure in parts of the south-east by mid-afternoon. That’s the kind of stat that sounds dry until you’re sitting in a car with broken air conditioning at 3pm.
Of course, Britain being Britain, the reaction is delightfully split. Half the country is in the garden with a cold beer before noon, absolutely thriving. The other half is drawing the curtains, declaring it “far too hot to function,” and lying directly in front of a desk fan like a golden retriever.
Rail services are warning of potential delays as overhead lines expand in the heat, and several outdoor events have issued reminders to bring water and find shade. The NHS has repeated its guidance for looking after elderly relatives and young children on days like this, and it’s worth actually listening.
The heat is forecast to break by Tuesday, with thunderstorms potentially rolling in overnight. So if you haven’t made the most of today yet, the clock is very much ticking. Whether that means a Cornetto in the garden or a full-blown impromptu barbecue is entirely up to you.
Will this finally be the summer that actually delivers, or are we two days away from complaining about the rain again?
