Yesterday was the hottest day of the year in the UK, Met Office says
Wednesday was the hottest day of the year so far, the Met Office has said - as thousands of Brits flocked to the beach, went for a swim and flocked to Glastonbury.
Forecasters said temperatures soared as high as 30.3C at Heathrow Airport while most of southern England was in the high 20s.
However, the mini-heatwave which swept much of Britain in the last few days is set to end. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued yellow heat health alerts across most of England until 5pm today.
While the south can expect refreshing breezes today, it will get 'unseasonably windy' elsewhere - with 30-35mph gusts in northern England and North Wales, and full gales in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Paul Gundersen, a Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office, said: 'A cold front will sweep down from the northwest to the southeast over the next 24 hours, bringing with it cooler air and an end of the very warm weather many have been experiencing in recent days.
Members of the public relax and take shelter from the sun on Gyllyngvase Beach in Falmouth on Wednesday
Beach goers enjoy the sun on Brighton Beach on Wednesday
A woman stretches after a swim at Charlton Lido on Wednesday
Festival goers enjoy the extremely warm weather and sunshine at Glastonbury Festival yesterday
Visitors queue ahead of gates opening at 8am during day one of Glastonbury Festival 2024 on Wednesday
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued yellow heat health alerts across most of England until 5pm today
'A band of patchy rain, which could be heavy in the far northwest at first, will move east across England and Wales, bringing temperatures closer to average.
'It will still be very warm in the far southeast on Thursday, but the cooler air will arrive by the evening, and then all places will enjoy a much cooler night than of late.'
Friday will be bright and breezy with showers in the north, heavier across Scotland, the Met Office said.
Meanwhile, the weekend will see plenty of warm and dry weather, especially in the south and east.
The Met Office also said there will be some cloud and patchy rain or showers around, mostly across central and northern parts of the UK.
Yesterday's heat followed on from a top temperature of 30.5C in Chertsey, Surrey on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the British Horseracing Authority said it was looking into whether hot weather played a part in the deaths of four horses at a Devon race meeting on Tuesday - the highest death toll in a single afternoon in six years.
People out and about enjoying the blistering heat along the River Cam in Cambridge on Wednesday
A person sun bathes on Blackpool beach in Lancashire as a seagull looks on on Wednesday
A person enters the sea by Eastbourne Pier in East Sussex on Wednesday
Happy Helen, Hallowed Rose, Bala Brook and Cuzzicombe all suffered fatal injuries during racing at Newton Abbot.
Looking ahead, the start of July will be dominated by 'changeable weather' - a mix of rain, cloud, dry weather and possible thunderstorms.
The Met Office's long-range forecast from June 30 until July 9, said: 'The period is expected to be largely dominated by a changeable weather pattern with a mixture of cloudy, breezy and wet periods interspersed with drier, more settled periods and winds often from the west or northwest.'
'At first, a period of cloudy, humid weather is likely to be over, or clearing the south, bringing a small risk of thunderstorms before it does so. Following this, an area of rain is likely to arrive into the northwest, moving southeast, opening the door to the changeable weather pattern described above.'
The North West of England can expect 'frequent rain or showers' over the ten day period, and temperatures will be a little below to around average for early July.
It comes after the NHS said the number of people seeking heat advice on its website has "skyrocketed" since a yellow heat health alert covering most of the country came into force on Monday.
Figures from NHS England, which runs the NHS website, show that on June 24 and 25 there were 28,116 visits to the heat exhaustion page, compared with 13,598 over June 22 and June 23 - a 107 percent increase.
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