Met Office confirms new UK record temperature of 38.7C
The highest temperature ever recorded in the UK – 38.7C – has been confirmed by the Met Office.
The measurement, taken at Cambridge Botanic Garden last Thursday, was subject to quality control and analysis by meteorologists over the weekend. The previous record of 38.5C was recorded in Faversham, Kent, in August 2003.
The recording was taken at a Met Office climate observation site at the University of Cambridge. Some observation sites report monthly, meaning there is still a chance that higher temperatures were recorded elsewhere.
Countries across central and western Europe were gripped by exceptionally high temperatures last week, with Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands also breaking national temperature records.