Hot summer being forecast after record spring sunshine

It is twice as likely that the summer will be hot across the UK this year, the Met Office has predicted as the forecasting body also warned of an increased risk of heatwaves.

- 

The predictions come after the country’s sunniest spring on record, with some 630 hours of sunshine clocked up across the country between March 1 and May 27, in what has also been the driest spring for more than a century.

Temperatures soared to 8C above the average for the time of year on Saturday - the last day of meteorological spring - ahead of a potentially hot summer season.

The Met Office's three-month outlook predicts that the chance of a hot summer is higher than normal, bringing an increased risk of heatwaves and heat-related impacts.