A quick shift - High of the year to a cooler spell

A quick shift
High of the year to a cooler spell

Temperature map centered on London showing Northolt highlighted with a label of 26°C, surrounded by orange shading indicating warm conditions across southeast England.

A reading of 26 degrees in West London officially marks the warmest day of 2026.

Wednesday marked the second successive hottest day of the year in the UK, but don't stow the bigger coats just yet, another chill is set to follow.

With a high of 26 °C in Northolt, West London, Wednesday broke the short lived record set in Anglesey on Tuesday, and also set a fresh date record beating the 24.4 °C set in Brixton back in 1894.

There is a quick switch between sunscreen to brolly again though, with temperatures dropping behind a band of rain that moves through on Thursday.

Friday morning is decisively colder, even bringing frost across much of Scotland with temperatures back down to and around freezing.

Cooler air sweeps across the UK and Ireland behind rain throughout Thursday, bringing us back down to winter coat territory.

Ryan Hathaway

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A quick shiftHigh of the year to a cooler spell

A quick shift
High of the year to a cooler spell