Temperature exceeds 26C on the warmest day of the year so far

People out in the warm weather on Bournemouth beach during Wednesday afternoon Temperatures on Wednesday afternoon soared to 26.6C (79.8F) making it the warmest day of the year so far. Recorded at Kew Gardens, London it exceeds the 24.8C (76.7F) recorded on Tuesday at Mona on Anglesey, Wales which was - briefly - the warmest day of the year so far. According to the Met Office it has been the second warmest day on record during the first half of any April. Across England and Wales more widely, temperatures have been in the high teens and low twenties, accompanied by sunny skies and very high pollen levels. However, make the most of this unusually warm weather because on Thursday all will change with things feeling fresher and cooler. Before today, all four nations of the UK had recorded their highest temperature of the year so far on Tuesday after very warm air was dragged in from continental Europe. The addition of the foehn effect - a warming wind on the leeside of a mountain - meant that north-west Wales saw the highest temperatures. Wales - 24.8C (76.7F) - Mona, Isle of Anglesey England - 22.5C (72.5F) - Merryfield, Somerset Scotland - 22.5C (72.5F) - Kinloss, Moray Northern Ire