The new hottest ever UK temperature for December was recorded in the Scottish Highlands last month, meteorologists have confirmed.
A temperature of 18.7C (65.66F) was recorded at Achfary in Sutherland on December 28, 2019 - making it the hottest day of the month on record in Britain.
The reading was validated following a “rigorous verification process”, the Met Office said.
It beats the previous record of 18.3C (64.94F) which was taken at Achnashellach in the Highlands on December 2 1948.
The recording has been put down to a meteorological phenomenon known as the Foehn Effect.
This is a change from wet and cold conditions on one side of a mountain to warmer and drier conditions on the other side.
The most notable Foehn events tend to occur across the Highlands, where the moist prevailing westerly winds encounter high ground along Scotland’s west coast.
