On Mon, 1 Jun 2009 at 10:59:53, John Hall
wrote in uk.sci.weather :

UK max. temps on Sunday http://tinyurl.com/n2lypc

Benson 24.5°C, Castlederg and Middle Wallop 24.6°C, Northolt 24.7°C,
London MO 24.9°C, Bournemouth (Hurn) 25.2°C, Hawarden and Crosby 25.4°C,
Heathrow 25.6°C, Solent MRSC 26.9°C.

Damn - they spoiled my hat-trick : 26.1C yesterday.

I must confession to a degree of scepticism about your readings, Paul,
so often do they seem to be the highest in the country.

I wish...

Seriously though, it's only 2-3 days a year that I record the highest -
and Cheltenham does have a history of high temperatures in summer.

Are you
confident of the accuracy of your thermometer, the quality of the
screen, and that the screen is not in an exceptionally sheltered
location?

No, not at all.

I've explained the location & exposure in the past - a suburban garden,
with the thermometer on a north-facing fence, sheltered at all times
from direct sunlight. I've found this configuration actually records
temperatures closer to those forecast than the sensors in my mini-screen
record, though.

In fact, while the official station was still running, I tended to
record *lower* temperatures in hot weather than they did.
--
Paul Hyett, Cheltenham (change 'invalid83261' to 'blueyonder' to email me)