GRAVESEND was the hottest place in the country again yesterday.

On the hottest day of the year so far, Gravesend reached a top temperature of 30.9C.

This meant conditions were on a par with Mediterranean holiday resorts and hotter than the holiday island of Bermuda's 29C (84F).

Gravesend also had the highest temperature on Tuesday last week, with 27.8C recorded.

After briefly being named hottest place on record in Britain's history in 2003, the town could reclaim the crown this summer, with high temperatures forecast by the Met Office.

A temperatue of 38.1C was recorded in the town on August 10, 2003.

However, later that day Brogdale near Faversham reached 38.5C and took Gravesend’s place in the record books before it could even be written down.