What was Britain's hottest ever day?
Highest ever UK temperature could be threatened if a second European "heat dome" comes to pass next month
The UK experienced its hottest ever June day in last week's heatwave, and the all-time record could be under threat if further high temperatures are felt, as forecast, in the week ahead.
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The record for the hottest June day in the UK was broken on three consecutive days from Wednesday last week, reaching a provisional peak of 37.3C in Santon Downham in Suffolk on Friday.
The weather this week will come in from the Atlantic on south-westerly winds, dropping the temperature and bringing rain to areas of low pressure - but there might yet be hot weather on the horizon, with a second European "heat dome" being forecast.
According to the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the Azores High, a semi-permanent high-pressure system situated over the North Atlantic, is expected to become "displaced" and therefore become centred over northern France and southern Britain instead.
This could lead to another heatwave coming next month, but what is the all-time UK record temperature?
Read also: Second 'heat dome' to scorch UK within weeks, experts have warned
When was the hottest ever UK day and what was the record temperature?
The highest temperature ever recorded in the UK was the 40.3C felt in Coningsby, Lincolnshire, on July 19, 2022.
The heatwaves of four years ago saw several days of insufferably hot conditions, which have not quite been replicated since.
So far, the 2026 record temperature of 37.3C is the sixth hottest UK day of all time. But all other dates in the top 10 were felt in July and August.
The previous record had been the 38.7C felt in Cambridge in July 2019, this beating the August 2003 38.5C heat experienced in Kent.