A series of new records for high temperatures were broken in the UK in 2019, concluding a record-breaking decade, the Met Office has said.
The last decade was the second hottest in the past 100 years in the UK, with eight new high-temperature records set.
Four new UK records were set last year alone, including the highest winter and summer temperatures ever recorded:
Last year, a maximum of 21.2C was reached on 26 February, in London – the hottest February day ever recorded and on 25 July, temperatures then reached 38.7C in Cambridge – the UK’s highest-ever recorded temperature.
The third record-breaker for 2019 was for the highest daily minimum temperature in February – a temperature of 13.9C recorded on 23 February in the Scottish Highlands.
The hottest December day is also likely to have been exceeded last week, with a provisional temperature of 18.7C recorded in the Highlands of Scotland on 28 December – although the figure still needs to be validated.