The Met Office has confirmed July's heatwave set a new record for overnight temperatures. The thermometer did not drop below 26.8C in one location, according to the weather agency.
The new highest daily minimum temperature was recorded at Shirburn Model Farm in Oxfordshire at 4.32am on July 19. That means the temperature never went below that level over a 24-hour period, setting a new record for the UK, the Met Office said.
The Met Office has already verified the UK's new hottest temperature record of 40.3C in Coningsby, Lincolnshire, set later in the day on July 19 – the first time the mercury smashed through the 40C threshold in the country. The data from some weather stations is reported more slowly than others, which is why the new record for the daily minimum has only just been verified, replacing the previous record of 25.8C set at Kenley Airfield on the same day.
According to weather experts, heatwaves are being made more intense, frequent and likely by climate change, with the UK exceeding previous temperature records by significant amounts in July's unprecedented searing heat. Met Office data quality manager, John Penman, said: "This new record is another reminder of just how severe the heat was in July.
"What is remarkable is just how much this has surpassed the previous record, exceeding the August 1990 record of 23.9C by nearly three degrees. Much like the daytime highs, the overnight temperatures have smashed the previous records during a period of unprecedented heat in the UK."
The record 40.3C high exceeded the previous record, set just three years ago of 38.7C in Cambridge in 2019, by more than two and half degrees Celsius.
