the most haunting image from that hot summer is of spanish farmer angel, hailed as a hero when he dug a trench with his bulldozer to stop the fire from spreading and he suffered severe burns and tragically died from his injuries in october. figures show the excess deaths reported across europe from the excessive heat waves numbered more than 20,000. raf coningsby is home to front line combat ready squadrons protecting uk airspace whatever the weather so it s crucial we get accurate forecasts. here we are in the met office forecast office, 20 years since i ve been here. it has changed a little. in the chair where i used to sit is alice. you were on that day back injuly when we saw temperatures of 40.3 degrees celsius recorded so what was it like? something we never expected in the uk.
product and show them those as well. more to come from coningsby later when i speak to pilots of aircraft new and old to see how heat and extreme weather effects operations. that new record of 40.3 is a significant moment in weather history. but every temperature reading, every weather observation plays its part in our understanding of how the climate is changing and that is why i am here at the national meteorological archive in exeter. it is home to daily uk weather reports from 1860 up to the present day, among a vast collection of data that makes up one of the most comprehensive meteorological collections in the world. i am joined by mike, a climate information scientist and we are amongst this huge collection of historical data. looking at the oldest weather observations, thinking about temperature, how is that used alongside
here it was even more incredible and remarkable because our previous maximum was nowhere near, so it was extreme for the uk as a whole. even more extreme for the local area. at what point did you realise coningsby was going to be the hottest place ever recorded in the uk? it has to go through quite vigorous quality control before we officially get the record so by the evening, we were pretty sure no one beat that 40.3 record but we were not officially holding the uk record until some days later when they came under the control on the observation equipment. i did not think i would see 40 celsius in the uk but do you think we will see that again anytime soon? we know it is possible so we know it can happen again and it will be increasingly likely with climate change.
ian wreaks havoc in florida. welcome back to raf coningsby. this base has a special place in my heart, it is where i started forecasting and it is the place with the highest temperature in the uk ever recorded was this summer, 40.3 celsius. behind me are some typhoon aircraft based here but what impact does the temperatures have on operations? joining me is station commander group captain billy cooper. let s go back to that day injuly. what sort of impact does the temperatures have on coningsby? any extremes of weather and particularly temperature can have an effect even on modern aircraft. in particular the engine performance, and very high altitude or temperature. we find the density of the fuel will change so the way in which the maintainers operate with the aircraft can be different. at coningsby you have the quick reaction alert squadron who have to be up in the air at a moments
and tents are for people in pakistan still homeless after a devastating flood. i will report on the bigger storms of the year and look at what happened after weather disasters strike. i am at raf coningsby, not only a place close to my heart in that it is where i began my broadcasting career but to british meteorology, this july at this stevenson screen, we recorded the uk highest temperature of 40.3 celsius. it has been a day of record breaking temperatures across the uk. more than a0 celsius for the first time. july the 19th, the uk s hottest day and as temperatures soared after the driest start to the year