Environment

2014 Summer could be UK’s Hottest ever, says forecasters

By NewsRoom24 on March 18th, 2014 / Views

Yesterday again Britain enjoyed the beautiful bright sunshine and the temperature was 19C – hotter than on the Med.

Thousands of people gathered to beaches, beer gardens and parks to enjoy the “exceptionally mild” spring weather caused by a band of high pressure making its way across Britain.

Yesterday’s hottest temperature was 19.3C (66F) and it was recorded in London’s St James’s Park. That was more than two degrees warmer than in Greece where temperatures reached 17C and six degrees hotter than Turkey where it was just 13C.

Even though the wettest winter on record in England and Wales, forecasters are now expecting Britain to experience a surprise summer this year.

Boffins at Justus Liebig University in Giessen, Germany, say there is a 75 per cent chance that this summer will be a scorcher, with Britain set for an El Niño weather pattern. That means waters on the Pacific equator rise higher than usual, ­leading to hotter temperatures here. It is even possible 2003’s record of 38.5C in Faversham, Kent, may fall.

Met Office forecaster Tom Morgan confirmed: “It was a lovely warm sunny day in the South.”

MeteoGroups’s Andy Ratcliffe added: “It will be dry across the UK, but there could more unsettled weather towards the end of the week in the North West.”