The family of missing RAF Honington gunner Corrie McKeague have spoke of their gratitude after police searched through tonnes of landfill in temperatures of 25.5C.
Specially trained police officers from Suffolk and Norfolk constabulary have been searching through between 60 and 90 tonnes of rubbish a day.
They started the search at Milton Landfill, Cambridgeshire, on March 6, after it emerged a waste lorry, which had emptied a bin in Brentgovel Street, Bury St Edmunds, weighed enough to contain a person.
It had previously been though that the bin, which was in the 'horseshoe area' Corrie was seen entering at 3.24am on September 24, could not have contained the 23-year-old as the waste company stated it weighed only 11kg.
MORE: Police carrying out first weekend searches for missing serviceman Corrie McKeague
Yesterday (Sunday, April 9) was the hottest day of the year so far. The Cambridge weather station, not far from the landfill, recorded highs of 25.5C, the highest recorded in the country.
Nicola Urquhart, Corrie's mother, said on the Find Corrie Facebook page: 'The search at the landfill, which must have been incredibly difficult for the officers searching in this heat, has finished for another day. We are so grateful for their efforts.'
According to Weatherquest meteorologist Adam Dury, Milton would have been at its hottest at around 3pm, with temperatures climbing quickly from lows of 7C in the early hours of Sunday.
The weekend was the first time the specially trained police searched the landfill outside of Monday to Friday, with efforts stepped up to mitigate any lost search hours over the Easter Weekend.
Speaking before the weekend, Corrie's father Martin McKeague said: 'These folks are now working in what could only be described as hellishly hot conditions.'
He added: 'These folks deserve our support and our unreserved gratitude and we intend to give it to them in every way we can.'
The teams of police officers are rotated through the site to ensure they can search from morning until evening.
They have to work in double-layered suits, masks and hoods for their protection, meaning the high temperatures can make searching even more difficult.
A spokeswoman for Suffolk police said: 'It is very difficult going in the heat, but we are obviously continuing to work in our efforts to find Corrie.
'On Sunday, despite the heat, they managed to search around 70 tonnes. It varies from 60 to 90 tonnes a day.'
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