The record for the hottest day ever in Britain
was broken on Sunday 10th August 2003 as temperatures soared
to 38.5°C (101.3°F) in Brogdale, near
Faversham Kent, higher than the 38.1°C (100.6°F) originally
reported in Gravesend on the same day.
This is officially the hottest day since records began about
130 years ago in 1875.
The highest temperature earlier this afternoon (as of 1500)
was 37.9 °C recorded at Heathrow airport, west of London
at around 1445 hrs. This temperature converts to just a touch
over 100.2 °F. This comfortably beat the previous record
of 37.1 °C set in Cheltenham on 3 August 1990. |
Only
yesterday Lyneham recorded
32.7°C which was the highest temperature since 2 August
1995, when 33.1 °C was recorded, data records back
to 1957. The highest ever recorded temperature at Lyneham
was
34.9°C on 3 August 1990.
At Bournemouth
in Dorset, the coastline was crammed to capacity with about
100,000 sun lovers and "no spare sand". Brighton
beaches were crowded and chaotic, with the sea front office
saying: "There have been lots of lost children, pier
jumpers, drunks and other shenanigans which we are dealing
with."
Topping
99°F and then 100°F means a bad day for the bookies, with William
Hill alone having to pay out over £250,000.
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