The UK recorded a temperature of 38.7C on July 25, but 2019 has been a record-breaking year when it comes to heatwaves the world over
The UK has a new record for the hottest day ever. On July 25 temperatures at Cambridge University Botanic Garden reached 38.7 degrees Celsius, according to the Met Office. While the UK was smashing its previous records, in mainland Europe the mercury soared to oppressive levels for the second time this summer, while elsewhere in the world citizens scorched and the Arctic circle blazed. It all begs the question, is freakishly hot weather the new normal?
July’s temperatures are only the latest in a long line of worrying temperature trends. Including July’s record, nine of the ten hottest UK days ever have taken place in the last 30 years.
This stifling July follows an unseasonable (and for many, disturbing) warm spell in February 2019, where the Met Office reported a high of 20.6C in Trawsgoed, Ceredigion – the first time a temperature over 20C was recorded in winter. The previous record was 19.7C in Greenwich in 1998.
Read more: Wired