An Omani town has experienced the hottest ever night time temperature ever reported by not dropping below 42.6 degrees over a 24-hour period.

According to experts from Weather Underground – which first reported the case, which took place last Tuesday – the recent temperature in the Omani town of Quriyat beats the previous record of 41.9 degrees, set near Khassab Airport in June 2011.

Quriyat is a small fishing town in northeast Oman, approximately an hour’s drive from Muscat.

Citing weather expert Maximiliano Herrera, Weather Underground noted that the extremely hot temperature is likely caused by a strong ridge of high pressure that settled into the area a few days before the temperature was recorded.

The town’s location on the guest of the Gulf of Oman means that humid marine air keeps temperatures from falling significantly at night, with sea surface temperatures of 32 degrees – above average for this time of year – contributing to the record temperature.

While the 42.6 degree minimum is the highest ever reported, it is not officially verified by the World Meteorological Organisation, which only validates records for minimum temperatures.