What a glorious summer we’ve been having with Britons basking in glorious sunshine and temperatures as high as 26°C (78°F).
After the wettest winter on record the UK has enjoyed plenty of sunshine – with the good weather set to continue throughout July and August.
The blazing temperatures have even seen some parts of the UK hotter than the Mediterranean resorts of Crete and Rhodes.
In the first three weeks of June alone, the average temperature was 1.2°C warmer than normal for the time of year.
Forecasters hope that after suffering from the wettest winter since records began in 1910, the UK will enjoy a prolonged period of warmth.
Met Office forecaster Steven Keates said a pool of high pressure off the west coast was to thank for Britain’s warm and dry spell.
He added: “We will continue to see warm sunshine with temperatures getting close to 27°C.
“It will remain pleasantly warm and sunny with light winds – so very good weather.”
The soaring temperatures followed this year’s Summer Solstice, with more than 36,000 people turning up to witness the sun shining through Stonehenge on the longest day of the year.
Many have taken advantage of the unusually warm weather, flocking to the British coastline to bask in the sun.
Elsewhere the heat forced tram drivers in Edinburgh to open carriage doors at every stop to cool passengers – because the £2m vehicles weren’t built with air conditioning.
Though the Met Office remained confident the good weather was here to stay new research released by Newcastle University has suggested extreme summer rainfall could become more frequent in the UK as a result of global warming.
