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Hot, hot, hot! Bank holiday sunshine in the South

News imageThree young men in swimming shorts dive into the River Thames
News imageAndrew Matthews/PA Wire A packed Bournemouth beach full of people with parasolsAndrew Matthews/PA Wire
Reading University students have been enjoying the river at Pangbourne Meadow, which has recently been given bathing water status
Bournemouth beach was predictably busy on Monday morning with people arriving early to set up

As temperatures soar across the South of England, people have been out enjoying the weather.

Benson in Oxfordshire was one of eight areas where a heatwave was officially declared on Sunday.

Monday and Tuesday have been forecast to be the hottest days of the week with temperatures on both days reaching the mid-30s in southern England.

Farnborough, Hampshire, also had one of the hottest recorded temperatures of the day on Sunday, reaching 30.0C at 15:00 BST.

BBC meteorologist Tomasz Schafernaker said there had only been a handful of years when temperatures reached or exceeded 30C in May since record-keeping began in the UK.

He said: "Statistically, the UK experiences its highest temperatures at the end of July or the beginning of August, so it's likely we'll see even higher temperatures during the summer."

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