Off topic-Hottest day ever

[Beefy]

Sorry if this has already been mentioned but today is the hottest day in the history of the U.K with a temperature of 38.1 C recorded in Gravesend.

Not sure how hot it was in Brighton but it wasn't the greatest weather to play a football match in this morning.

 

[Beefy]

It has been the hottest day ever recorded in Britain with a new record temperature of 38.1C being measured in Gravesend.

It beats the previous record of 37.1C set in Cheltenham on August 3 1990.

Forecasters had predicted that the chances of an all-time high today were "better than 50-50".

Millions of sunseekers have enjoyed another glorious day of sunshine. Beaches, parks and gardens have been packed with sunbathers.

Bookmakers have begun paying out hundreds of thousands of pounds to punters who bet on temperatures soaring to record levels.

The total sum is likely to be around £500,000 after people put money on the heat hitting 99F and 100F.

William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said Hills alone would have to pay out up to £250,000, adding that the new temperature record made it "a bad day for bookies".

Hundreds of punters are believed to have put down small bets as the heatwave continued last week.

Mr Sharpe added: "Anyone who wants to re-invest their winnings to bet on the coldest temperature this winter, beating the minus 17C recorded in the Scottish highlands on New Year's Eve in 1995, will be quite welcome."

Ladbrokes was inundated with local punters wanting to pay for their summer holidays with winning wagers.

They are offering odds of 3/1 on Brighton being the beach that will record the hottest average temperature in August.

Bournemouth and Margate are 5/1, Torquay is 16/1 and Scarborough is 20/1.

2003 is already being compared with Britain's hottest summer in 1976 when the country basked in 15 consecutive days at 32C (90F) or above.

 

[BrightonBird]

It was about 18 today. Not the hottest in Brighton I'm afraid!! I love it when it's hot and not at work. Count yourself lucky. It's cloudy on Tuesday (so the bbc weather says)!

 

[BrightonBird]

sorry, I meant 28! Doh!

 

[Yorkie]

It rained in West Yorkshire at noon and then stayed cloudy all afternoon

 

[Blackadder]

It is very hot, but I won't be taking your Weather news in future Beefy.

You told me there was no mist in Brighton the other day. When I got down there, it was like that film "The Fog"

 

[brighton rock]

UK hits 100F for first time


People used London's fountains to cool down
The record for the hottest day ever in Britain was broken on Sunday as temperatures soared to 38.1C (100.6F) in Gravesend, Kent.
The record was initially topped earlier in the day when Heathrow airport registered 37.9C (100.2F), meaning the hottest day since records began about 130 years ago in 1875.

The previous record was 37.1C (98.8F), recorded at Cheltenham in 1990.

However the heat has brought with it violent thunder storms, heavy rain and lightning across northern England and the Midlands.

Nature took over dramatically

Steve Evans, West Midlands Ambulance Service


Woman hit by lightning
More than 20 people were injured after being struck by lightning.

Fourteen were hurt when lightning struck a football match in a leisure centre in Birmingham on Sunday afternoon.

One woman was directly hit and had a heart attack, while others were treated for burns, eye injuries and shock.

In Lancashire, two Brownies were slightly injured when lightning struck between them at a camp near Blackburn.

'No spare sand'

Another six people were injured when lightning struck at an agriculture show in Corley, Warwickshire.


Brighton beach was crowded and chaotic
But elsewhere Britons have been soaking up the sunshine.

Roads to the south and west coasts were jammed on Sunday as motorists headed to and from the seaside.

Resorts including Clacton-on-Sea in Essex and Tenby in Pembrokeshire said there were no spare beds at all in hotels and B&Bs.

At Bournemouth in Dorset, the coastline was crammed to capacity with about 100,000 sun lovers and "no spare sand".

Brighton beaches were crowded and chaotic, with the sea front office saying: "There have been lots of lost children, pier jumpers, drunks and other shenanigans which we are dealing with."

Topping 99F and then 100F means a bad day for the bookies, with William Hill alone having to pay out over £250,000.

Spokesman Graham Sharp said "plenty" of people would have won bets at up to 25-1 that the temperature of 100F would be beaten.

Cold front

The Met Office's chief weather forecaster Nigel Reed explained why the weekend has been so hot.

A cold front out to the west of the UK has been "pulling in exceptionally warm air that's been over northern France the last couple of days," he said.

"The longer a hot spell lasts the higher the temperature gets each day, typically about a degree each day."

He said the recent hot weather was "consistent" with global warming, although it was impossible to prove an exact link.


Not everybody in the UK enjoyed sunshine
Summers this hot or hotter may even become fairly "routine" within 50 or 70 years, he said.

"In the years to come, as the earth's atmosphere does heat up through global warming, we would expect to see these hot weather events happening with greater frequency," he said.

The hot weather is expected to continue in the south of England into next week although it will be cooler and fresher by mid-week.

Delays on the railways continue due to speed restrictions imposed by Network Rail at noon each day while temperatures remain above 30C.

There are currently no water shortages

 

[Withdean and I]

I think I got mild sunstroke today. I felt a bit giddy after coming back from the beach. Or was it the Guiness?

 

[Beefy]

It is very hot, but I won't be taking your Weather news in future Beefy.

You told me there was no mist in Brighton the other day. When I got down there, it was like that film "The Fog"

Yeah sorry about that.I live about a mile from the sea and there was no mist here but you could hardly see 5 yards infront of yourself on the beach.

 

[Blackadder]

that's OK Beefy.

met you at the Nelson. you are a good lad. You support the Albion. Just can't be relied on for weather reports!

 

[Lord Donald Barrington-Nash]

gosh! what a scorcher

 

[Donny Osmond]

Was up well over 36 in Tun Wells

 

[Lady Bracknell]

Was a scorcher on the beach in Seaford too although a spot of cloud and a couple of drops of rain arrived at about 4 o'clock.

Tonight's weather forecast predicted "much more reasonable temperatures tomorrow" - although reasonable for the South East is now 29!! It must be well over 20 degrees right now and I wonder what the hottest recorded night-time temperature is?

 

[bigc]

i'm sure someone will find out...

 

[Braders]

and what was i doing for it - 8 hours of pushing a load of trolleys up hill !