The weather records for June as UK experiences heatwave
The current hot spell has prompted speculation about whether the country's long-standing June temperature record could be beaten
As a heatwave grips parts of the UK, forecasters predict temperatures could soon breach the 30C mark, a threshold frequently met in June but yet to be reached this year.
The current hot spell has prompted speculation about whether the country's long-standing June temperature record could be challenged.
According to Met Office data, the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK during June stands at a scorching 35.6C.
This peak was first reached on 29 June, 1957, in Camden Square, north London, and then again almost two decades later on 28 June, 1976, at Mayflower Park in Southampton.
While the 35.6C record has remained untouched for decades, the UK has come close in recent years. In 2017, Heathrow in London saw temperatures climb to 34.5C on 21 June.
Last year, the mercury hit 30.5C at Wisley in Surrey on June 26.
The 30C mark has been a common feature of June weather in the UK, having been surpassed in eight of the last ten years, with 2016 and 2021 being the exceptions.
Could the weather record for the warmest June be broken this year?
So far this June, the highest temperature recorded was 29.4C at Santon Downham in Suffolk on 13 June.
However, meteorologists anticipate that the 30C barrier will be broken within the next few days, potentially as early as Thursday, as the ongoing hot spell continues across the country.
Some places are set to be hotter than parts of southern Europe, with highs of 32C expected on Saturday and Sunday, beating the sunshine in Portugal and the south of France.
The average warmest June on record was in 2023, when the mean temperature for the UK across the month was 15.8C.
This was almost a full degree higher than the previous record of 14.9C, which was set in both 1940 and 1976.
2023 was also the UK’s fifth sunniest June on record, with an average of 245.0 hours of sunshine measured during the month.
The record for the sunniest June is 265.1 hours, set in 1957.