UK bakes on hottest day of the year: How long will heatwave last?

The north/south weather divide continues today with the south of England still baking after experiencing record high temperatures yesterday, while the north and parts of Scotland endured torrential rain.

Public Health England issued a high temperature warning for this week, the first time it has done so in the month of September. Today the south-east is expected to be as hot as 30C.

At 34.4C, yesterday was the hottest day of the year so far in the south-east and London – and the hottest September day recorded since 1906. In the north, meanwhile, the Met Office issued yellow rain warnings.

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Prestbury in Cheshire had 32.4mm of rain in just one hour yesterday, the BBC reports. Manchester City were even forced to postpone a Champions League game after the Etihad stadium pitch flooded.

Flights were affected at Manchester Airport, and West Midlands Fire Service said they were called to three different houses struck by lightning, says the Daily Telegraph.

In the south-east, the 34.4C record was set at Gravesend in Kent, while Heathrow and Kew Gardens saw temperatures of 32.8C at around midday. Temperatures are not expected to be quite as high today but the warm weather is forecast to continue until Friday.

The previous record September temperature was set in 1906 in Bawtry, South Yorkshire. The last time the thermometer topped 30C in September was 2006, when 30.5C was recorded at Kew.

Speaking earlier in the week, Simon Partridge of the Met Office explained: "Basically, we've got air coming up from the south. The origins of this air is generally southern France and northern Spain, where things are fairly warm at this time of the year."