It's Fair been a scorching month on Scottish island

The aptly named Fair Isle, between Orkney and Shetland, has had 279 hours of sunshine - more than anywhere else in Britain.

In contrast, England and Wales experienced just 226 hours of sunshine and Northern Ireland had 212. The average for Scotland was 236 hours.

The Met Office revealed parts of the UK had experienced the sunniest May for eight years.

The thermometer peaked at 26.5C at Loch Shin in the Scottish Highlands on Friday.

This meant that, until yesterday, it had enjoyed the warmest temperatures of the year anywhere in the UK.

However, The Solent in Hampshire, on the south coast of England, reached 27C yesterday, making it warmer there than in Tenerife and Nice.

Temperatures across the UK averaged 23C yesterday.

In Scotland, Glasgow was hottest, at 23.9C. The east coast was slightly cooler.

However, despite the sunny month, Scotland also had higher than average rainfall over May.

It was a particularly wet month for the Western Highlands, with 298mm recorded at Inveruglas, Dunbartonshire, compared to just 19mm at Manston, Kent.

England and Wales saw 55mm of rain, which was below average. Scotland saw 81mm, which was 40 per cent more than normal.

Iain Robinson, from the Met Office, said the sizzling temperatures that saw the month end with a flourish yesterday were not out of the ordinary. "These temperatures might not happen every year but it's certainly not that unusual," he said.

The Met Office predicts the sunny weather will continue today before it begins to turn slightly colder by midweek.

Temperatures are likely to fall to about 16C in the south of Scotland by Thursday, and about 12C in the north.