at coningsby you have the quick reaction alert squadron who have to be up in the air at a moments notice what sort of weather impacts do look at? impacts do you have to look at? we have to be aware of what the weather conditions are notjust here at coningsby but across the uk and europe and we ve been particularly concerned about thunderstorms, if any areas were particularly cloudy, which might make it difficult for us to intercept other aircraft. it s notjust modern day aircraft in operation here, it s also home to the battle of britain memorial flight. these priceless artefacts are kept in airworthy condition and can be seen in the skies above all sorts of events during the summer keeping their rich history alive. and here we are in the hangar of the battle of britain memorial flight. behind me just one of only two operational lancaster bombers in the world. operational lancaster
here on the italian island of ischia, during the night month of ischia, during the night, mud surges towards the sea taking everything with that after several days of intense rain. in october on crete, cars were swept into the sea by a powerful flood that locals say caught them by surprise, also at night, after a day of rain. brazil endured severe storms that caused deadly flash flooding. this is the aftermath of a landslide that swept onto a motorway in early december, and in petropolis in february, over 200 people died in a catastrophic mudslide that followed several hours still to come an abscess the science behind storm surges as hurricane and ian wreaks havoc in florida. welcome back to raf coningsby. this base has a special place
expected in the uk. here it was even more incredible and remarkable because our previous maximum was nowhere near, i think we beat it by 5.5 degrees, 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.
in headquarters and we make our own 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 here at the met office, and we are amongst this huge
all these sleeping bags 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 happens 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 forecasting 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 since 1976, drought