Documented record · well documented
Coningsby, Lincolnshire
July peak daily maximum · United Kingdom
Coningsby reached 40.3 °C — the first time 40 °C was recorded anywhere in the United Kingdom.
Why a record is measured against the place
A number on its own says very little. 40.3 °C would be unremarkable in one climate and unthinkable in another. What makes a record matter is its distance from what that place, at that time of year, has historically produced — its own normal.
Not Normal expresses that distance in standard deviations (σ) from a thirty-year baseline. Two σ above normal is reached in roughly 1 year in 44 under the baseline climate; four σ above, roughly 1 year in 32,000.
Modelled demonstration series · not observed data
The same place on the field
Not Normal carries a modelled 75-year series for Coningsby, Lincolnshire (July peak daily maximum) that demonstrates the reasoning above. It is synthesised from published climatology, not observed, and is kept apart from the documented record on this page.
The season here
British summer peaks are short and plume-driven — hot air drawn north from Iberia for a day or two, not a season of heat.
Other documented records
Open Coningsby on the field →