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Highs Of 29.4C Made Today Hottest of The Year So Far

Highs Of 29.4C Made Today Hottest of The Year So Far

Today, the Met Office captured a temperature of 29.4C in London's St James Park, making it the hottest day of 2018 so far.

Mischa Pearlmen

Mischa Pearlmen

You know how every year, summer in England consists of about three really glorious days in like April (and maybe May too, if we're lucky) and then just a series of drab weeks full of grey skies and rain? Well, not this year!

You'll have already noticed - and hopefully enjoyed - the glorious season the UK has had for a while now, and today was the start of what looks like will be another mini heatwave.

But it turns out that today was actually the hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures in London hitting a scorching 29.4C. The previous hottest day of 2018 was April 19, which saw St James Park reach 29.1C, but Met Office forecaster Mark Foster says it might get even hotter later this week.

That's obviously great news, but it's not without its knock-on consequences. For a start, today's heatwave had adverse effects on some train lines. As a result, South Western warned of speed restrictions on services out of Waterloo. But it wouldn't be the UK without the train networks screwing up slightly, would it?

PA

Andy Thomas, the managing director of England and Wales at Network Rail, explained why that always happens.

He said: "On very sunny days, rails in direct sunshine can be as much as 20C above air temperature, causing the steel to expand markedly, and could - if not carefully monitored and action taken - buckle, causing travel disruption.

"Our engineers and specialist extreme weather teams are monitoring track-side temperatures at vulnerable locations and will, if necessary, introduce temporary speed restrictions during the hottest part of the day to keep trains running, albeit more slowly than normal."

The sun and high temperatures also mean that there will be very high levels of pollen and UV, which is not so good for people who suffer from hay fever, and Foster warned people to take the necessary precautions.

PA

"High pressure is going to dominate this week so we can expect very high levels of pollen and UV," he said.

"If you are in the sun you have a greater chance of getting burnt in the short term.

"Long days, very still conditions and clear skies help June temperatures to get very intense. The sun in June is relatively the highest it gets in the sky and heat can build up over successive days."

So basically - wear lots of sunscreen and leave very early for work if you have to take the train to get there. Or, you know, call in sick for the week and just enjoy the weather!

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Weather, UK News, News, heatwave, UK, Sun