UK hottest day: Is it hot enough to fry an egg outside?

The UK has experienced its hottest day for nine years, with temperatures in some parts of the country exceeding 36 degrees Celsius.

Reports of melting roads begin bubbling late in the morning and just before midday, Northolt in London hit 34.5C – the hottest temperature the UK has seen since 2006.

This was beaten several hours later, when the Met Office announced 36.7C had been recorded at Heathrow.

But was it so hot you could fry an egg on the pavement? IBTimes UK went to find out.

To cook, eggs have to reach a temperature of around 70C. This is to start denaturation – the process where the egg whites go from transparent to white. During this, the eggs molecular structure is changed.

To fry an egg outside, ideally you need conditions you would find in a frying pan – that is a black (as it absorbs the heat of the sun) matt and metal surface. The hood of a car is recommended, but we did not have one of those to use.

Instead, we tried to fry an egg on a metal statute. After 10 minutes there was no change.

So no, it is not hot enough to fry an egg outside.