Peterborough weather expert records hottest June in city - but says no major heatwave on the near horizon

A Peterborough weather expert has said last month was the hottest June he has recorded in the city.

Trevor Robbins-Pratt, from Peterborough Weather Watch, said last month broke his previous record, set in 2017, despite a relatively cool start to the month.

The Met Office said it was the hottest June in the UK on record.

Spurred on by mid-month heat, the UK’s mean temperature for June 2023 was 15.8°C, some 2.5°C higher than average.

Trevor, whose data goes back to 2006, said: “June 2023 was my warmest June when using the overall month mean, which was 18.1°C, compared to my previous warmest of 17.8°C in 2017.”

He added: “My highest temperature this June was 31.2°C on the 25th, which is my sixth highest June temperature. The highest is 32.6°C, on June 27 in 2011.”

"The first week of June wasn’t particularly warm, in fact it was very much on the cool side with temperatures generally below average. The warmth really got going as from the 9th and stayed warm, very warm or hot, for the remainder of the month. This was due to an area of high pressure settled near to/across the UK, bringing warm air advection and plenty of sunshine across much of the UK.”

However, those hoping for a scorching July could be set to be disappointed.

Trevor said: “It looks like there will be a couple of very warm days this weekend, with temperatures possibly 25°C+, before settling back to average temperatures of around 22°C or 23°C into and through next week.

"There have been a few headlines over the past week suggesting that there is some extreme heat about to hit the UK. However, there really is no strong signal/indication of that happening at the moment.”

A massive 72 ceremonial counties in the Met Office system recorded their hottest June on record, with many recording mean temperature more than 2.5°C more than average. Counties that recorded their warmest June on record stretched across a large area of the UK, including Orkney, Warwickshire, Surrey, Somerset and Cornwall.