UK heatwave: What is the hottest day on record in the UK, is today the hottest day, will the UK hit 40 degrees and how hot it will be this week in Portsmouth

Last week, the Met Office released a statement, saying: ‘The amber warning, which has been issued for Sunday (July 17) and Monday (July 18), highlights likely adverse health effects for the public, not just limited to those most vulnerable to extreme heat.

‘Temperatures could be in excess of 35°C in the southeast, and more widely around 32°C within the warning area.

‘These high temperatures could extend further into next week and an extension of the warning will be considered in the coming days.’

But what is the hottest day of the year on record and has the UK ever reached 40°C?

Here’s everything you need to know:

What is the hottest day of the year on record in the UK?

The Met Office states that Thursday, July 25, 2019, is the hottest day on record in the UK.

On this day, a temperature of 38.7°C was recorded in Cambridge, surpassing the previous record of 38.5°C, which was recorded in Faversham, Kent, in August 2003.

Dr Mark McCarthy, from the Met Office National Climate Information Centre, said: ‘Historically UK summer heatwaves would typically tend to peak in the low 30s Celsius with extreme events reaching the mid-30s.

‘The UK climate has been warming since the mid-20th Century, and this has been accompanied by similar increase in the hottest day of the year, which for the most recent decade has been 0.8C higher when compared with the period 1961-1990.

‘Climate change has increased the likelihood and severity of heatwave episodes across Europe, which will have also increased the risks of a 40.0 C temperature event in the UK.’

Will the UK reach 40°C?

The Met Office has warned of the possibility that temperatures in Britain may reach 40°C by mid-July this year

The temperature is currently only a prediction, recorded as part of a number of possibilities modelled by the Met’s forecast system.

Could the record be surpassed this month?

A temperature of 40.2°C has been provisionally recorded at Heathrow Airport today (July 19) at 12.50pm.

Once verified, the extreme temperature will surpass the UK record of 38.7C, set in Cambridge in 2019.

SEE ALSO: How hot will it be in Spain this summer?

What will the weather be like this week in Portsmouth?

According to the Met Office, temperatures will hit 29°C on Tuesday before cooling down to 22°C for the rest of the week.

From Wednesday, there will be some cloudy skies across the county, with sunny intervals throughout.