Record-breaking June temperature logged in village

A Norfolk village could enter the record books after logging the highest June temperature ever reached in the UK.

The Met Office has said thermometers hit 37.7C in Lingwood, which is eight miles east of Norwich, on Friday.

Initial results suggested Santon Downham in Suffolk was the hottest place in the UK at 37.3C (99.1F), but provisional results show this has been surpassed in Lingwood by 0.4C.

Graham Madge, a Met Office climate spokesperson, said if the result was verified, it would also have beaten the previous record temperature for June — when 35.6C (96F) was reached 50 years ago during the 1976 heatwave.

Madge said: "For three consecutive days last week, the UK June temperature record was exceeded. The heat was widely dispersed across southern England from Somerset to Norfolk. On Friday, the heat became focused more in the east of England.

"If this provisional record passes the necessary quality control checks, then this will be the new all-time high UK temperature record.

"The last record lasted for 50 years, but it is inevitable that with a warming climate this record won't last as long."

The 50-year-old record, 35.6C (96F) in Southampton, was beaten by more than a full degree Celsius, highlighting the intensity of the heatwave which gripped the country last week.

It caused travel disruption, schools to close and six NHS trusts declaring critical incidents after being overwhelmed with patients.

Businesses in Norfolk also closed because of the heat and some events were also cancelled.

Temperatures have cooled following the record-breaking heatwave last week.

Met Office forecasters have said temperatures will begin to rise early next week, perhaps reaching heatwave conditions again for some.

However, they were not expected to reach the high temperatures and humidity experienced last week.

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