The UK is experiencing its warmest February day on record, with the Met Office reporting a temperature of 20.6C (69.08F) at Trawsgoed, Ceredigion. It is the first time a temperature of over 20C has been recorded in winter.
Parts of Britain exceed temperatures in Malibu, Athens and Crete
UK
weather: Warmest winter day on record as temperatures reach 21.2C,
says Met Office
27
February, 2019
The
highest ever winter temperature seen in the UK has been recorded,
beating the previous all-time high, set only yesterday.
A
temperature of 21.2C was recorded at Kew Gardens in southwest London,
beating the 20.6C measured at Trawsgoed, near Aberystwyth, on Monday.
Met
Office spokesman Grahame Madge told The Independent: “To see
temperatures of over 20C on a winter’s day is exceptional. The
previous record was 19.7C and that’s stood since 1998. It is a rare
event to see temperatures this high in February.
“We’ve
had a series of weather metrics that have meant we are getting those
sort of temperatures: The fact we are getting the warm flow coming up
from the south, the fact we’ve got high pressure giving us sunny
days, which is adding to the temperatures, the fact it’s been dry –
dry soil means the ground heats up more quickly and helps to boost
daytime temperatures.”
He
added: “A lot of different variables have all aligned to give us
these high temperatures.”
But
by Thursday the high pressure system bringing warm air up from Europe
is expected to give way to see a “potentially very strong”
weather system move in from the Atlantic, bringing rain, high winds
and a fall in temperatures.
Nonetheless,
Mr Madge said the current high temperatures are considered “an
extreme weather event”, and added: “The background rate of
warming may have just nudged it up a little bit.
“February
is meteorologically a winter month, and we are seeing the highest
temperatures for winter ever recorded in the UK.”
In
terms of average temperatures the month is “within striking
distance” of becoming the warmest February since records began in
1910.
Meanwhile,
27 councils across the country have declared a “climate emergency”
in an effort to force authorities to act against climate change.
Though
scientists warn against conflating specific weather events with
climate change, there is wide recognition extreme weather becomes
more likely as the baseline for average temperatures has risen.
It
is thought the impact of the hot weather in winter will hit animals
hardest. Hibernating mammals which emerge too early may struggle to
find food and
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