The UK has seen its warmest start to May on record as temperatures soared to over 29C in the spring sunshine.

The Met Office said 29.3C (84.7F) had been recorded at Kew Gardens in southwest London, passing the previous 1 May record of 27.4C (81.3F) set in Lossiemouth in 1990.

Thursday was also the warmest day of the year so far, beating the previous high of 26.7C (80F) reached in Wisley, Surrey, on Wednesday.

Follow latest updates: May record broken

But the heat is not expected to last for the bank holiday weekend, with cooler weather starting to drift in from the north on Friday.

Temperatures are expected to ease by Friday and Saturday, meaning cooler conditions of 14C to 18C across the UK.

Stephen Dixon, a Met Office spokesman, said: “Temperatures tomorrow will be slightly reduced from what we’ve seen today, possibly 26 or 27 degrees in the far southeast of England through the day tomorrow.”

What has led to the hot spell?

Forecasters said the hot spell has been due to the jet stream remaining stuck north of the country, allowing high pressure to settle.

Last month was also the sunniest April in the UK since records began in 1910, with 47% more sunshine hours than the long-term meteorological average, and the third warmest April on record, according to provisional Met Office figures.

Rainfall was well below average for most of the UK last month, with just 56% of expected totals recorded.

And Tyne and Wear had its second driest April on record, with only 7% of its usual rainfall.

Boy’s body recovered from lake

Meanwhile, the recovery of a 16-year-old boy’s body from a lake in Nottingham prompted emergency services to warn about swimming in lakes and rivers.

Chief Inspector David Mather, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “I would like to take this opportunity to highlight this case as a reminder of the devastating consequences of entering open water – regardless of whether people do so deliberately or inadvertently.”

The London Fire Brigade said its crews responded to 565 water-related incidents last year and have already attended around 160 in the first quarter of this year, with incidents ranging from rescuing people to animals stranded on lakes and ponds.

‘Water temperatures can be dangerously cold’

Assistant commissioner for prevention and protection Craig Carter said. “Even when the sun is shining, water temperatures can be dangerously cold. Cold water shock can affect anyone, no matter how fit or experienced they are. It can lead to water inhalation, and, in the worst cases, drowning.”

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) offered similar warnings, advising those planning to swim at a lifeguarded beach to swim between the red and yellow flags.

Fire services warned that the warm weather means there is a “heightened” risk of grass and wildfires which can spread more easily during the dry spell, as firefighters have been battling what they described as a large wildfire in the Peak District.

The RAC also cautioned drivers on the roads, with spokesman Rod Dennis saying breakdowns are expected to “soar”, while the NHS reported searches for hay fever advice had doubled from Monday to Wednesday.

Harrods, the luxury London department store, has become the latest in a string of prominent retailers to be targeted by cyber hackers.

Sky News has learnt that Harrods has been engaged in attempts to fend off a cyber attack after similar incidents in recent days involving Marks & Spencer and the Co-op Group.

Follow updates: M&S ‘forced to halt all recruitment’ | Money

Further details of the apparent Harrods cyberattack were unclear on Thursday afternoon, although one customer of the upmarket store told Sky News he had been unable to pay for a purchase earlier in the day.

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In a statement issued in response to an enquiry from Sky News, a Harrods spokesperson said: “We recently experienced attempts to gain unauthorised access to some of our systems.

“Our seasoned IT security team immediately took proactive steps to keep systems safe, and as a result, we have restricted internet access at our sites today.

“Currently, all sites including our Knightsbridge store, H beauty stores and airport stores remain open to welcome customers.

“Customers can also continue to shop via harrods.com.

“We are not asking our customers to do anything differently at this point, and we will continue to provide updates as necessary.”

Read more:
The notorious hackers linked to M&S cyber attack

The concentration of cyber attacks on retailers underscores the growing centrality of the risk attached to consumer-facing companies’ online operations.

Harrods, which is owned by a Qatari sovereign wealth fund, is said to be engaging specialists to help resolve and investigate the issue.

M&S has been unable to accept online orders for the last week as a result of its cyber incident.

“I’d say the last two years people are just – they just don’t care anymore, they are using knives and doing all sorts.”

PC Maguire, 28, speaks with the authority of experience: experience that comes from working in Greater Manchester’s most high-crime areas.

“I remember when I was a teenager,” she says, “you’d never really hear of people carrying a knife or anything. But now it’s the normal thing to do.”

“It’s mad,” she adds.

PC Maguire is part of Operation Venture, an elite policing unit within Greater Manchester Police set up to tackle serious violence and knife crime.

Over the past two months, we’ve been given exclusive access to watch them work.

Moped chase

We’re on a Friday afternoon vehicle patrol in south Manchester with another member of the Venture team, Sgt Mohammed Waqas, when his radio, and that of fellow officer PC Hodge, who’s driving, starts pinging.

Their plain clothes team has spotted two youths in balaclavas, on a moped, weaving in and out of traffic.

“We suspect they are involved in some sort of knife-point robberies,” Sgt Waqas says.

The moped has also had its registration plates pulled off – officers suspect it’s been stolen.

The team starts searching the streets and is flagged down by a passing driver who says he’s just had to swerve to avoid hitting a moped.

“They’re little idiots, up there!” the driver says, visibly angry. “There are kids around.

“I swear to god I felt like f*****g chasing them down, and kicking them up the arse.”

Meanwhile, the unit’s covert officers are waiting where the moped has been previously spotted.

When it returns, a short while later, there are three youths onboard.

The team detain one, a 16-year-old who is known to them, but the two other youths get away.

Sgt Waqas and PC Hodge take up the chase, following the moped at speed as it runs red lights.

Incredibly, we see one of the moped riders filming it all on their mobile phone.

Later, the officers tell us: “They’ll probably post it online.”

But right now, they are focused on trying to catch them, which, in rush hour traffic, proves impossible.

They lose them – “yeah, total loss”, Sgt Waqas reports via his radio to the comms operator.

“Just to log as well,” he adds, “two males, white males, both got balaclavas on.”

“One of them has possibly got something in his jacket. Can’t tell what it is, just the way that he was holding himself.”

It’s extremely frustrating for the team.

A baby buggy, a knife and £50,000 cash

A few hours later, during a patrol in Salford, we see the sorts of weapons they are up against.

We’re with PC Maguire again, on vehicle patrol, when a police camera flags a car with links to suspected drug supply.

Along with another of the unit’s patrol cars, PC Maguire works to get into a formation to box in the suspect’s vehicle.

“XR2, show me as Car two,” PC Maguire tells a radio operator, having quickly made ground to get the vehicle in her sights.

“You want to get a stop on, before they have an opportunity to get away,” she explains.

But, after a brief pursuit through the dark streets, the car they are following pulls over of its own accord.

The driver, who’s in his 20s, is searched – as is his vehicle.

Inside, along with baby buggies and car seats, officers find a knife in the glovebox and a shoebox full of cash.

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Officers estimate there’s about £50,000 in there.

After brief questioning on site, the man tells officers that he’s been staying at a house nearby and admits there’s another weapon in there.

A few minutes later, PC Ben Cartledge – another Operation Venture officer – comes out holding what looks like a huge knife.

“It’s a machete,” he says, “it was in the bedroom.”

It’s extremely heavy and looks terrifying.

“I’m not going to lie to you, mate, it’s for protection only,” the arrested man says, when PC Cartledge arrests him on a further offence of having an offensive weapon in a private place.

It’s a line officers have heard before.

“There’s that social media side of it,” a senior officers says.

“Sometimes they’ll film themselves doing the robbery and sharing it around, and that becomes the normality.

“So then people will sometimes carry weapons to protect themselves.”

The unit uses a combination of proactive stop and search, intelligence-led policing and undercover tactics.

It’s why we can name officers but sometimes not show faces.