Last month saw the highest temperature ever recorded in Scotland and was the driest June on record in parts of England.

A temperature of 33.2C (91.7F) was provisionally recorded by the Met Office in Motherwell, Scotland, on 28 June - breaking the previous high of 32.9C (91.2F) set in August 2003 at Greycrook in the borders.

Mean temperatures made last month the warmest June on record in Northern Ireland and Wales, and the fourth warmest in Scotland and England.

Daytime temperatures were 19.9C (67.8F) on average - the same as the famed summer of 1976 and a joint second behind the average of 20.6C (69.1F) in June 1940.

June was also a very dry month for England, with Middlesex seeing just 0.7mm of rainfall, Essex 1.7mm and Dorset 2mm.


"The record set in 1920 was broken in south east and central southern England, where 3.0mm of rainfall was recorded - only 6% of what you would expect there for the month," Sky News weather presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar said.

She said some were concerned about a repeat of the country's memorably hot summer of 1976.

"During that hot spell from mid-June to the end of August there was a maximum temperature of 32C (89.6F) or more recorded somewhere in the UK for 15 consecutive days," she said.

"Some parts of the South West went 45 days without any rain in July and August which affected domestic water supplies leading to widespread water rationing."

Image: It was Scotland's highest temperature in June in 15 years

In the North West, the unusual conditions led to "aggressive" wildfires, as two blazes on neighbouring moors met, filling the sky with thick smoke and leaving a trail of blackened land.

A Manchester fire spokesman said high temperatures were the toughest part of combating the fire, explaining it would "take many more days of intense sweat and effort" for "tired but optimistic" firefighters to extinguish it.

Photographs showed firefighters beating down hot spots on Winter Hill near Bolton at dawn on Monday as services appealed for sun cream, insect repellent and hats as they battled the "unprecedented" blaze.

The Irish Farmers Association has warned that "once in a generation" drought conditions could threaten farmers' livelihoods, depleting grass growth and causing problems with crops such as barley, lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower.

Here’s a view from the top of Winter Hill this morning where crews are back on the moors beating down hot spots pic.twitter.com/GVNREhUQVz — Lancashire Fire (@LancashireFRS) 2 July 2018

Ireland has experienced very low rainfall since February - on a par with that of the country's last drought in 1976 - and no rain is forecast for the next week.

The weather has broken records across the UK, with the Met Office putting forward its first ever thunderstorm alert for some areas on Sunday.

Over the weekend, the weather mostly remained clear, and many people around Britain headed to beaches and parks to enjoy the heat.

June was the fourth sunniest recorded in the UK overall, and temperatures remained in the mid-20s across most of the country.