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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Kieran Isgin

What is the hottest temperature ever recorded in the UK?

The UK is seeing a new wave of hot weather, with temperatures reaching higher than some popular holiday destinations abroad today.

While we're battling to stay cool this week, many may be wondering just what is the hottest the UK has ever been. Believe it or not, a new record was hit a few years ago in Cambridge.

In 2019, temperatures peaked at 38.7C, taking over the previous of 38.5C which was recorded in Faversham, Kent, in August 2003. However, this extremely high temperature may be set to be smashed again very soon, according to experts.

Read more: Manchester will be hotter than ISTANBUL today as heatwave continues

Some reports have suggested that temperatures could reach as high as 43C this Sunday, however, the Met Office has warned that this is very unlikely. Becky Mitchel, a forecaster for the Met Office told The Mirror : "It is quite unprecedented.

"There's a one in three chance we could see a record breaking temperature next week. The most likely outcome is we'll see temperatures in the mid 30s. There's a 30% probability we will get heat in the high 30s, which would break the UK's hottest temperature on record.

"Temperatures are likely to peak towards end of next week. There's lots different model outputs one or two are showing extreme temperatures like 43C.

"However, we are very unlikely to see 43C."

Sky News meteorologist Kirsty McCabe said: "Nobody can recall 40C appearing in a major global forecast system for the UK. Especially when this forecast was also predicting temperatures over 39C over a huge area of southeast England.

"Given that the UK's previous hottest days have only seen a few places exceed 38C, this was unlike anything forecasters had ever seen before."

It comes shortly after the UK Health Security Agency issued a level 3 heat-health alert for South East and East of England, which will remain in place for the majority of this week.

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