Lincolnshire claims UK’s hottest ever temperature record during heatwave

Coningsby in Lincolnshire now officially has the UK’s new record-high temperature after the 40.3°C in the village during the heatwave on the hottest day on record (July 19, 2022).

The previous UK temperature record of 38.7°C was provisionally met or exceeded at 46 stations, from Kent to North Yorkshire, and from Suffolk to Warwickshire, but it was Lincolnshire that came out on top.

The confirmation from the Met Office comes as quality control testing, including physical inspections, cross-checking of stations and sites and further testing of equipment was carried out on a number of sites where records were provisionally broken.

These quality control measures are in accordance with the internationally-agreed World Meteorological Organisation standards, which are required to be accepted as official records.

In addition to Coningsby’s 40.3°C , record-high temperature records have also been verified for Wales, with 37.1°C at Hawarden Airport, Flintshire on July 18, 2022.

All appropriate standards have also been met to confirm a new record high temperature for Scotland of 34.8°C at Charterhall on July 19.

A new record high daily minimum temperature for Wales of 24.5°C at Aberporth on July 19 has also been confirmed.

Top ten hottest UK days on record. | Photo: Met Office

Ali Price, whose team is responsible for operating the Met Office network of weather observing stations in the UK, said: “Verification of these records has confirmed the extreme heat that we experienced last week.

“The process of verifying these records, using a rigorous process to ensure the readings collected were accurate, is vital to ensure that our temperature records reflect our weather and climate and have not been adversely influenced by other factors.”

Dr Mark McCarthy of the National Climate Information Centre said: “Verification of these record-breaking temperatures confirms what we’ve been saying in the last week, that the UK exceeded 40°C for the first time as part of a widespread and intense heatwave.

“In a climate unaffected by human-induced climate change, it would be virtually impossible for temperatures in the UK to reach 40°C but climate change is already making UK heatwaves more frequent, intense and long-lasting.”

Quality control for a provisional new UK highest daily minimum temperature record is still ongoing and will be verified once final checks have been completed. It is possible that further readings could be submitted in the coming weeks which will be included in our official temperature records, subject to routine quality control.