Britain having warmest May since 1772

LONDON, May 13 (UPI) -- Raging wildfires and flash floods accompanied the warmest weather recorded in Britain for the first week of the month of May since 1772, weather records show.

Residents in the northwest English city of Merseyside Sunday piled sandbags in front of their doors as water flooded many area homes. Officials evacuated the terminal at the John Lennon Airport in Liverpool when it flooded.

In Yelverton, Devon, in southwest England, firefighters scrambled to contain a wildfire raging through a shrub field while Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland experienced the warmest temperatures in more than a decade for the first week of May with highs in the lower 70s, The Daily Mail said Tuesday. The temperature hit 79 degrees Fahrenheit in Lee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire.

England's meteorological service, The Met Office, said it expects cooler temperatures and sunshine for the coming weekend, but temperatures will remain above average for May.