While today could be the hottest September day in 55 years in the South East, Cumbria's in for lots of sunshine too.

As world temperatures continue to soar, the UK could have its hottest September day since 1961 today.

London and the south east will have the best of the sunshine and the record set in Gatwick in 1961 will be broken if temperatures top 31.6C.

But although Cumbria will not reach the 32C mark, temperatures are expected to be between 22C and 24C today, which is higher than average for September.

A spokeswoman from the Met Office said: "Warm air coming up from the continent and the southerly air flow is bringing up this warm air combined with some good spells of sunshine.

"While there will be some clouds particularly around the Cumbrian coast, there's also going to be some good temperatures."

Similar temperatures in the low to mid 20s are expected tomorrow (WED) but that may be the last time we have such warm weather in 2016.

The Met Office spokeswoman said: "As we head towards the weekend we see temperatures drop slightly and return to what we would expect for this time of year.

"Friday will be in the high teens so still very pleasant."

Breaking temperature records has almost become normal because of global warming.

This year is on track to be the world's hottest year on record, breaking records set in 2014 and 2015.

July 2016 was the hottest month ever on seen since records began in 1880, according to scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

The scientists also recorded the warmest ever August in 136 years. The record warm August continued a streak of 11 consecutive months dating back to October 2015 that have set new monthly high-temperature records.

As temperatures have risen, the Arctic sea has ice melted. Carbon dioxide levels, which are driving global warming, have reached new highs according to the UN's World Meteorological Organisation.

And the effect of all of this? More heatwaves and more extreme rainfall, meaning more hot days and more floods.

Are you taking advantage of the heatwave? Is West Cumbria having a heatwave? Let us know - email news.ts@cnmedia.co.uk