by Richard Fleury
Following the loss of Faversham's longstanding UK record for the highest recorded temperature (38.5C) to Cambridge (38.7 C) back in July, eagle-eyed reader Robert Jarvis wrote in to say:
“According to the Faversham Weather Station at a max temp of 40.3 degrees, Faversham retains its record of the highest temperature recorded in the UK.”
Robert's screenshot from the Faversham Weather Station on the hottest day ever in the UK did indeed show 40.3C, more than hot enough to maintain our town's position at the very forefront of global warming. The previous highest temperature of 38.5˚C was recorded at Faversham's Brogdale, on 10 August 2003.
So why did the official record go to Cambridge's Botanic Garden instead? The Faversham Eye called the Met Office to find out.
“It would appear that it (Faversham Weather Station) was not an official Met Office site,” said spokesman Grahame Madge.
“There is a huge number of independent sites that do provide valuable supporting information, but as this record stands, potentially for some time, we obviously have very strict quality controls in place to ensure that any measurement is officially accepted.
“Our official site in Faversham got to 37.4C, which together with other records from the area proves that it was obviously a very hot day across a wide area of the South East.”
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