UK had hottest day of the year this week... but not Northern Ireland

It came after a two-year-old boy died in hospital after being pulled from a canal in Wolverhampton during hot weather on Sunday afternoon, according to West Midlands Police (WMP).

A yellow heat health alert was issued for the East and West Midlands , East of England , South East, South West, North West and London by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) until 9am on Wednesday .

On Monday afternoon the Met Office posted on social media: "It's been the hottest day of 2024 so far with 34.8°C recorded in Cambridge today.

"Provisionally this is only the 11th year since 1961 temperatures as high as this have been recorded.

"Eight of those years have been since 2000 and 6 of them have been in the last decade."

Before Monday, the hottest day of 2024 had been Friday July 19 when temperatures reached 31.9C in central London .

In Northern Ireland, the hottest temperature of the day was 23.8C at Killowen at 2.30pm, followed by 22.4C at Helen’s Bay at 2.48pm.

But these are quite a bit off the hottest temperature for the Province so far this year – 25.9C at Magilliagan on June 24.

Police do not believe there are any suspicious circumstances around the two-year-old boy's death after he was pulled from the water off Hendon Avenue in Ettingshall.

The incident follows the discovery of a 33-year-old man's body last week in a river in Coventry .

Officers were called to Upper Spon Street on August 6 , where the man was found, West Midlands Police said.

The UKHSA alert means those who are particularly vulnerable, such as the elderly with multiple health conditions, are likely to struggle to cope with the heat, and action may be required in the health and social care sector.

The Met Office recommended that people keep curtains closed during the peak of the day and drink a lot of water.

Caroline Abrahams , charity director of Age UK, said any older person living with health conditions should stay cool and advised friends to offer help running errands.