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Temperatures soar above 30C in the East of England

Katy Prickett
News imageBBC Weather Watchers/alpaca lady A triangular pink and yellow ice lolly against a bright blue sky. BBC Weather Watchers/alpaca lady
Intense blue skies appeared above Ramsey St Mary's in Cambridgeshire

Temperatures in the East of England have again exceeded 30C (86F) after the UK experienced record-breaking May weather over the bank holiday weekend.

One of the region's hottest places was Bedford Aerodrome, where it reached 32C (90F) on Monday, according to the Met Office.

A search was scrambled after reports of a man falling overboard near Harwich, Essex, and the RNLI's Nigel Gilchrist said crews experienced "an extremely busy weekend".

Climate scientist Ed Hawkins told the BBC "heat events" like this were "emerging earlier and intensifying faster", though Wednesday was expected to be slightly cooler.

News imageBBC Weather Watchers/Suzies View A silver coloured thermometer fixed to a red brick wall. It has C at the top and to its right are numbers ranging from 0 to 50. The blue temperature gauge appears to have reached 33C.BBC Weather Watchers/Suzies View
BBC Weather Watcher Suzies View showed temperatures reaching more than 30C on an outdoor thermometer

Gilchrist, from the RNLI lifeboat station in Southend, said his crews were called out 15 times between Saturday and Monday, which was "pretty tiring work".

They helped people caught out by the tides and swimmers out of their depth.

"If you do get into trouble yourself, float to live, which actually saved one of our casualties' lives on Saturday," he said.

"We're pretty proud to announce that well over 50 people have managed to survive by using the float method."

This method involves tilting your head backwards until your ears are submerged and, crucially, not panicking.

News imageBBC Weather Watchers/duke skywalk An expanse of yellow sand at Harwich, with rows of wooden groynes running into the blue sea. A woman is lying on her back in the middle ground, near the sea wall, and there are a few other people on the beach. In the distance is a bright pink container ship. BBC Weather Watchers/duke skywalk
Extensive searches were carried out after reports a man had fallen from a vessel near Harwich Harbour on Sunday

An amber heat health alert had been issued for the East of England by the Met Office, ahead of the bank holiday.

Highs of 32C were also reached in Marham, south of King's Lynn in Norfolk on Monday, while the University of Cambridge Botanic Garden confirmed its weather station recorded 33.2C (91.8F).

News imageBBC Weather Watchers/Southern Broads The coast at Southwold from the sea. People are wading in the blue water and walking on the yellow sands. Above the beach is a row of colourful beach huts, trees, two roofs and pale blue sky. BBC Weather Watchers/Southern Broads
Visitors to Southwold in Suffolk cooled off in the sea
News imageBBC Weather Watchers/uWhoAndyR A close up of red poppies and green wheat ears, shot from below, with buildings behind and blue sky above. BBC Weather Watchers/uWhoAndyR
There were also blue skies and bright sunshine in Northampton

The UK recorded its all-time highest May temperature, as 34.8C (94.6F) was confirmed at London's Kew Gardens.

The Met Office said this temperature would be "exceptional in the UK even in mid summer, let alone in May".

The average temperature for the end of May is 14-20C (57-68F).

Hawkins, professor of climate science at the University of Reading, told the BBC that these soaring temperatures were due to climate change.

News imageBBC Weather Watchers/Simon Luckman An expanse of deep orange coloured water with reeds sticking out in the foreground, swans floating in the distance beneath a bank and a yellow sun setting in a deep pink sky.BBC Weather Watchers/Simon Luckman
A vivid sunset was captured in Somerton in Norfolk as Monday came to a close

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