Jack Grey
Live reporter

Image source, Yorkshire Wildlife Park

The secret to keeping polar bears happy during a Yorkshire heatwave is shade, water and frozen treats, says Charlotte Macdonald, animal director at Yorkshire Wildlife Park.

“Polar bears do not live in the snow and ice all year round in the wild,” she says, adding that the park's six polar bears can manage the heat quite well as long as it isn't "sustained for over a period of months".

“We just make sure our boys have plenty of shade, they have big lakes that they can swim in and they’ll also spend a lot of time resting.”

She says they spend “quite a bit of time in the water” when temperatures rise, adding that she is “often quite jealous of them”.

However she says the park does offer a helping hand to keep Nobby, Hamish, Luka, Sisu, Indiana, and Yuma, cool – including frozen treats.

While we might enjoy a mango or lemon-lime ice lolly, Charlotte tells me the bears' preference is “blood ice”.

Image source, Yorkshire Wildlife Park

Joe Coughlan
Live reporter

Image source, Tom Szpitter

Also working to beat the heat this bank holiday are the bees in one of Tom Szpitter's hives in West Yorkshire.

The Leeds-based beekeeper tells BBC News that hot weather can see bees beating their wings around to fan themselves, as well as swarming outside the hive to regulate temperatures in a behaviour called “bearding”.

“Bees are quite like us. They want an optimal temperature and try to keep themselves cool,” he explains.

Image source, Tom Szpitter

Tom says beekeepers may sometimes add insulation to the roofs of hives or provide shade on sunny days, as well as leaving water nearby in a saucer.

Figures from Defra, cited widely by conservation organisations, state that 35 species of bees in the UK are under threat of extinction.

While groups of bees may seem alarming to people, Tom says the insects are often quite gentle in swarms and adds that it’s a good sign of them reproducing - with hot weather offering them more time to rest on nearby trees before finding a new hive.

Simon King
Lead weather presenter, BBC Weather

If you were following earlier this morning, you will recall that for us in the Weather centre, today could be "bonkers" in terms of a new temperature record.

And with 34.8C now confirmed as the highest temperature today - and the May record obliterated by 2C - it has been.

Records shouldn’t be exceeded by that amount. But, it’s something we will have to get used to.

Climate scientist Ed Hawkins, professor of climate science at the University of Reading told me this afternoon that "today’s heat events are emerging earlier, intensifying faster and occurring across a much warmer background climate".

Image source, BBC Weather Watchers/Surbitonsue

Barra Best
BBC News NI weather presenter

Image source, BBC Weather Watcher/CountyDownCycling

It’s been the joint warmest May day on record across the island of Ireland, too, as temperatures climbed to 28.4C in Oak Park, County Carlow.

That matches the previous May record of 28.4C set in County Kerry in 1997.

Irish weather service, Met Éireann, is expecting similar temperatures on Tuesday with a chance of a new temperature record being set.

In Northern Ireland, temperatures have reached 25C in a number of locations in Counties Armagh, Tyrone, Down, and Fermanagh.

That’s 10C above average for the time of year and just 3C below the 104 year old record of 28.3C, set in 1922.

Following the news that 34.8C has been recorded at London's Kew Gardens, the Met Office says this is a temperature that would "exceptional in the UK even in mid summer, let alone in May".

With this latest reading, it says, today is now the hottest May day on record by a full two degrees Celsius, after the previous 32.8C record was broken earlier today.

A new high of 34.8C has been recorded at London's Kew Gardens, according to the Met Office.

That exceeds the 34C recorded earlier today in the capital - at Heathrow and in Teddington, and makes it the new record for the UK's hottest May day.

With the temperature now into the 30Cs at Wembley Stadium, fans taking in the League Two play-off final between Salford City and Notts County are feeling the heat in the capital.

David Beckham's among those seeking shade - he's cheering on Salford, who he co-owns alongside other Manchester United legends.

To manage the impact of the temperature, players have been taking water breaks during each half, as they compete for promotion in sweltering conditions.

As the final whistle approaches, it's Notts County's players who've been keeping their cool the best - the Magpies lead 3-0.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Claire Quinn
Northern Ireland reporter

Many sun seekers in Northern Ireland regularly flock to the seaside town of Helen’s Bay in County Down, and this Bank Holiday Monday has been no exception.

The Carvalho family tells the BBC the weather is a “surprise” so dad Freddy took a day off and they took a trip to the beach.

Meanwhile friends Claire Dummigan and Niamh Query brought with them a seaside picnic, including some non-alcoholic beverages.

“We try to get down on a regular basis, it’s just such a beautiful part of the country,” Niamh says.

“We’re just so happy to be here on the beach and have this glorious weather.”

Claire says she has plans to “jump in the sea very soon, have a lovely picnic and enjoy the sun while it’s here”.

She admits getting into the sea is “hard” given the average NI temperatures, but when you “come out you feel a million dollars – it just completely resets you”.

Meanwhile Kathryn Millar is enjoying the day at the beach looking after her grandchildren.

She says this warm weather was “unusual for Northern Ireland”.

“It’s just fabulous – three months of this would be great”,” she says.

Cameron Angus-Mackay
Reporting from Shetland

While we've just summarised the baking temperatures across most of the UK, it's only 11.0C in Shetland this afternoon.

Around Lerwick harbour, low cloud and a cool sea breeze contrast with other parts of the UK.

The far north has seen only a handful of warm sunny days this May - there was even a flurry of heavy snow at the start of the month.

Konrad, from Stoke-on-Trent - which is currently sitting at about 30C - is visiting Lerwick because his brother-in-law is filming the next series of BBC crime drama Shetland.

"It's my first time here. It would have been nicer to have had warmer weather," he says, but adds that he did expect it to be both "wetter and windier."

Image source, PA Media

It's a record-breaking spell of hot weather across large parts of the UK - here's a look at all the records broken so far.

• For the whole of the UK: The record for the hottest May day has been broken - currently it's the 34.0C observed at Heathrow and Teddington, in England. That also makes it the hottest recorded bank holiday Monday. Overnight in Kenley, Greater London temperatures only fell to 19.4C - a record for the highest overnight temperature in May

• InWales: The 30.9C temperature recorded at Trawscoed, Ceredigion, is the country's hottest May day on record
• In Scotland: A 25.5C temperature in Charterhall makes it Scotland's hottest day of the year
• In Northern Ireland: We've also seen its warmest day of the year so far - 24.6C in Hillsborough
• And it's not just the UK: Many May heat records have been broken across Europeover the last few days - more on that from weather presenter Simon King here

As temperatures break new records across the UK, everyone - from dogs to ducks - is trying to keep cool.

From going for a splash or staying hydrated, to slathering on the sunscreen, we've seen a variety of strategies on display in photos coming in to us from BBC Weather Watchers.

Image source, BBC Weather Watchers | Ulani

Image source, BBC Weather Watchers | Yen Milne

Image source, BBC Weather Watchers | Stan Drew

Image source, BBC Weather Watchers | DannyMcGuigan

Simon King
Lead weather presenter, BBC Weather

The BBC has confirmed with the Met Office that the highest temperature so far this afternoon has reached 34C at Heathrow and Teddington.

As we've been reporting, elsewhere Wales has seen its warmest May day on record with 31.1C at Trawscoed.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have had their warmest day of the year with 25.5C at Charterhall and 24.6C at Hillsborough.

There’s a chance we could see an update to this later this afternoon once all the data comes in but we’re now getting past the hottest part of the day so temperatures are generally levelling off.

Image source, Getty Images

As we explained earlier, the heatwave that’s been felt across parts of the UK and Europe is consistent with what we would expect in a changing, hotter climate.

According to the latest European State of the Climate report, Europe is the fastest warming continent in the world with heatwaves becoming more frequent and more intense.

As climate change worsens, climate anxiety has become more prominent in recent years. Young people are thought to be most at risk, the government says, external.

Feelings often associated with this type of anxiety include fear, sadness, anger, dread and powerlessness.

The UK government says information should be communicated in an "age-appropriate, hopeful and action-oriented way", helping people to feel heard and "capable of making a difference".

For those experiencing climate anxiety, Tony Bosworth, climate campaigner at environmental organisation Friends of the Earth says that "limiting your news consumption and time spent on social media, and getting out into nature, can also be good antidotes when things start to feel overwhelming".

Barra Best
BBC News NI weather presenter

Image source, BBC/Marita Moloney

The island of Ireland could be about to set a new May temperature record of more than 28C.

Temperatures in Northern Ireland have reached 25C in Hillsborough, County Down - around 10C above normal for the time of year.

That is also 3C below the May record for Northern Ireland which is 28.3C, set back in 1922.

While that record is not expected to be broken, a new record could be set in the Republic of Ireland where temperatures have climbed to 27C.

The record there for May is 28.4C, set in May 1997.

Simon King
Lead weather presenter, BBC Weather

We're around the hottest part of the day so temperatures will be starting to level out.

But in Scotland, it's now the hottest day of the year with temperatures of 25.3C in Charterhall. This beats the 23.6C on 1 May.

For Wales, with 30.8C recorded at Trawscoed, Ceredigion, it is now Wales's hottest May day on record.

While in Northern Ireland it has reached 24.3C in Armagh.

At Heathrow, temperatures have increased slightly to 33.6C in the last hour.

Elsewhere in England, they have now widely hit above 30C, including East Anglia, the Midlands, Merseyside and Greater Manchester.

It's hot and sunny across most of the country, but this is the UK, so naturally it's still raining somewhere...

On the Shetland Islands, the most northerly part of the United Kingdom, the temperature is currently around 13C and there have been grey skies and spots of rain.

Jeannie has sent this image in to BBC Weather Watchers:

Image source, BBC Weather Watchers/Jeannie

We were sent this picture of similarly grey skies over the Scottish Highlands earlier.

But much of Scotland is still experiencing unusually warm weather - it's around 23C with blue skies in Edinburgh.

We've seen lots of photos today on the live desk of furry friends beating the heat - but Rosie is absolutely the first pet llama.

She took a dip in a paddling pool before retiring to lounge in the shade, we're told.

Diane in Worcestershire tells us that she's had Rosie as a pet for two years, and submits the below photo for everyone's consideration.

Stay cool, Rosie and Diane.

Leigh Boobyer
Live reporter

Image source, PA Media

In Gloucestershire the annual cheese rolling races, which see competitors tripping and stumbling down an incredibly steep hill, do not usually take place in conditions this hot.

BBC reporter Andy Howard says he can recall the races down Cooper’s Hill taking place in drizzle, heavy rain and in very cold conditions, but never in temperatures this warm.

Ahead of today's races, the hill was described as very firm, with plenty of stones – not great conditions for the competitors who brave injury in their pursuit of the large double Gloucester cheese which is sent down the hill to signal the start of each race.

For the spectators too it has been a challenging day, with people getting there early to find the few shady spots to watch the race from.

• For more on the dash for cheese, check out the BBC's local coverage

As we've been reporting, around 500 properties in Sussex and Kent have either no water, or have been experiencing supply issues today.

These are some of the latest pictures from Ashford, where a bottled water station has opened at Challock Village Hall for affected customers. South East Water has apologised for the disruption, citing an "increased demand" across its network.

Simon King
Lead weather presenter, BBC Weather

In the last few moments we’ve had the 13:00 BST temperatures reported and the maximum so far is now 33.5C at Heathrow.

Not only does this make it the hottest day in May on record, but also the hottest bank holiday Monday on record (exceeding the 33.3C seen in the August bank holiday in 2019).

Along with the warmest May night on record we saw last night, that’s three new major records we’ve seen today.

Temperatures will continue to rise over the next couple of hours and even away from the south-east of England, it’s hot out there with temperatures widely into the mid-to high 20s.