Northern Ireland enjoys hottest day of 2024 so far: find out the places with today's highest temperatures

​Met Office figures obtained by the News Letter late into the evening showed that the top temperature was 20.3C in Castlederg at 3.15pm.

The runners-up were Killowen (south Down) at 19.3C at 4.45pm, and Lough Fea (east Tyrone) at 3.53pm.

England, Wales, and Scotland also recorded their highest temperatures of the year so far, with the top GB temperature on Thursday being 23.4C at 3.10pm at Santon Downham in Suffolk.

The previous hottest day of 2024 in Northern Ireland had been just 24 hours earlier on Wednesday, when Castlederg again took the top spot with a temperature of 16.7C.

Likewise, Wednesday had been the previous hottest day of 2024 in GB too, with a temperature of 22.1C recorded at the same locale in Suffolk.

All of this is a long way from the record temperatures for either April or May for Northern Ireland.

NI’s April record was on April 26, 1984, when the temperature reached 24.5C, said the Met Office’s Marco Petagna, while NI’s May record was on May 31, 1922, when it hit 28.3C.

Asked whether we might be due a third record-breaking day of 2024 in a row on Friday, Mr Petagna said sadly not, when temperatures are expected to dip to perhaps 15 or 16C in the Province.

"It’s still a degree or so above average,” he said.

"But not as warm as Thursday. Saturday and Sunday, it’s 15 to 16C – perhaps 17C – and the weather will be a bit more mixed, with some showers and sun.”

It followed storms in Wales on Wednesday night, with yellow weather warnings and intense rain.