UK braces for hottest day of the year with temperatures exceeding 30C

The UK is experiencing the hottest day of the year so far with temperatures forecast to continue to climb above 30C over the bank holiday weekend.

Temperatures reached 26.9C at Heathrow in west London on Friday afternoon, the Met Office confirmed. The current May record is 32.8C.

Amber health alerts have been issued for parts of England as families attempt a half-term getaway and people travelling to Europe via ferry have been facing delays of several hours, the Port of Dover has said.

Passengers have been told to prepare for congestion on the roads leading to the port, as some 18,000 cars are expected to pass through it between Friday and Sunday.

Motorways will also be busy, with 19 million people expected to be on the roads, the RAC estimates - a million more than during the late May bank holiday last year.

The Port of Dover says there is a wait of two hours at the port and urged passengers to remain in their vehicles for safety reasons.

It explained the delay was due to the introduction of the new EU Entry Exit System (EES) registration process - which digitally records biometric information - being implemented by French authorities.

The port said it was "working hard" to improve the situation and urged customers to keep to main roads to help with traffic processing and to keep the town of Dover clear for local residents.

At Dover, where people go through the French border before they board a cross-Channel ferry, French authorities have not yet switched on the machines that will take fingerprints and photos under EES.

However, border officials still have to create profiles for travellers linked to the new system, meaning it is taking longer to get through border checks.

Border authorities are allowed to suspend EES altogether if severe delays build up.

The Port of Dover is asking people to arrive no more than two hours before their scheduled sailing, have their documents ready to be inspected, bring water, snacks and entertainment for children and families, and ensure any dogs are walked and rested before arriving.

The Lydden Hill racing track will be available as a contingency measure to hold cars if queues get really bad, to avoid local roads getting clogged up.

At the Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel's Folkestone terminal, French authorities have also yet to turn on the new machines to take car passengers' biometric details. It's not warning passengers of delays.

Lorry drivers have been providing biometric information for a while now.

Eurostar's hub at London St Pancras station is the other UK location where French border checks are done as people leave the country. Again, border police have been creating profiles and in some cases taking biometric information - but most passengers have yet to use the automated machines.

Greece has said British passengers won't face biometric checks this summer.

At some airports, passengers have experienced long queues at the border upon arrival in recent months. In April, about 100 people were left stranded in Milan after a flight to Manchester left without them.

Easyjet boss Kenton Jarvis told the BBC on Thursday that problems caused by the EES were "unacceptable" but that "we have seen some reduction in some of the queues".

He encouraged European countries to use the flexibility they had to go back to manual passport stamping if necessary.

UK motorways are expected to be the most congested on Friday and Saturday as people make the most of the bank holiday weekend. On each day, 3.8 million cars are expected to be on the UK's motorways, according to the RAC.

The weather is playing a role in the traffic, Sean Kimberlin, RAC mobile servicing and repairs team leader, said.

He added that it was set to be the "busiest late May bank holiday since 2024" despite concerns over high fuel prices.

Train lines are also expected to have a higher number of passengers this weekend.

Southern Railway warned that its trains were likely to be busier than usual, "particularly on routes to coastal destinations".

The warmest day of the year was announced on Friday, with temperatures reaching 26.9C in Heathrow. Previously, the warmest day was on 8 April, when 26.6C was recorded in London's Kew Gardens.

Amber heat health alerts have been issued by the UK Health Security Agency for the south-east and east of England, London and the Midlands until Wednesday, when some areas are expected to reach heatwave conditions.

Several operators have scheduled engineering work to take place over the weekend, including on the East Coast Main Line, Transpennine, Great Western Main Line and Thameslink.