While much of the UK was recording the warmest May since records began more than 100 years ago Suffolk and parts of Essex failed to reach the top temperatures.

According to the Met Office May 2018 saw an average daily maximum temperature of 17C (63F) beating the previous record of 16.9C set in May 1992.

But here in Suffolk and Essex the average was 13.4C which was slightly down on the last year’s figure of 13.7C, said Adam Dury, at the Norwich-based Weatherquest.

However, the thermometer soared towards the end of the month for the Whitsun Bank Holiday Monday with the Cavendish weather station recording 27.3C, Wattisham 26.2C and Writtle 26.3.

Mr Dury said that last year’s May was the joint warmest May on record for the Suffolk and Essex region.

“There were quite warm spells in the month but the Bank Holiday Monday was the warmest on record in the UK with the temperatures that were recorded,” he said.

And he added that the warm weather was set to continue throughout June with the threat of the odd thunderstorm on the horizon towards the end of this week.

The Met Office said Spring 2018, which ran from March to May, had been “very dynamic with many fluctuations”. But the period was 0.3C higher than the average between 1981 and 2010.

Across the UK, the average May temperature was 1.5C above the long-term 1981-2010 average at 11.9C.

With 245.3 hours of sunshine, it is also likely to be confirmed as be the sunniest May since 1989, which saw 241.7 hours of sun.

Records for temperature began in 1910 and sunshine in 1929.

Less than two-thirds of the average amount of rain for the month fell in May 2018.

But with wetter than average spells during March and April, the rainfall for the UK for spring (March to May) as a whole has been near average.

Tim Legg, of the Met Office National Climate Information Centre, said: “Increased sunshine during (May) has helped to keep daytime temperatures high.

“People’s impressions of spring may well be coloured by their personal weather memories, from coping with freezing conditions to enjoying a hot spell in April.

“Actually, it may well challenge perceptions to realise that the provisional average temperature for this spring is 8C, meaning it has been largely warmer than average across the UK by about 0.3C, when compared with the average between 1981­ and 2010.”