Aberystwyth recorded Wales’ warmest day of the year and was the hottest place in Great Britain yesterday with the temperature topping 31°C.

The mercury peaked at 31.2°C at the Gogerddan weather mast, near Aberystwyth, on Thursday, setting a new record for the week, beating the 30.9°C in Usk on Tuesday and Cardiff on Monday, as Wales recorded its hottest day of the year so far.

The Met Office said Thursday’s hottest place in the whole of the UK was 31.4°C at Armagh town in Northern Ireland.

Rain and thunderstorms are set to replace the four-day heatwave that sparked safety warnings this weekend.

The UK’s hottest temperature of the year is still the 32.2°C recorded at London’s Heathrow Airport on Tuesday, but the 31.2°C reached at Gogerddan in Ceredigion is Wales’ warmest of 2021 so far.

The highest July temperature in Wales was 34.6°C, recorded in 2006, with the highest ever recorded in Wales being 35.2°C at Hawarden Bridge in Flintshire on 2 August 1990.

The Met Office said "heavy, thundery showers" are likely over the weekend which could be "torrential".