Kinlochewe sets provisional UK record for January temperature with 19.6C

If confirmed, the temperature would beat the previous record of 18.3C recorded in two villages in Aberdeenshire in 2003 and in Wales in 1958 and 1971.
The temperature would be the record for a winter’s day in Scotland (Andrew Matthews/PA)
PA Archive
Craig Paton28 January 2024

A village in Scotland has provisionally set the UK record for temperature in January after hitting 19.6C, the Met Office has confirmed.

Kinlochewe in the north-west Highlands recorded the temperature on Sunday, rising above the previous record of villages Inchmarlo and Aboyne in Aberdeenshire which hit 18.3C in 2003 while Aber, Ceredigion, reached the same level in both 1958 and 1971.

The temperature, if confirmed, would also be the record for a winter’s day in Scotland.

In a post on X, the Met Office said: “There has provisionally been a new UK January daily max temperature record set today at Kinlochewe where the temperature reached 19.6C.

“This beats the previous January UK record of 18.3C set at Inchmarlo and Aboyne in 2003 and Aber in 1958 and 1971.”

As well as potentially setting the record, Kinlochewe was also covered by a yellow weather warning for wind.

The warning was in place for the north-west highlands and Outer Hebrides between 11am and 5pm.

Elsewhere, Scotland’s central belt and the eastern coast of Northern Ireland were already under a yellow wind warning, due to last between 10am and 8pm.

A Met Office spokesperson told the PA news agency the temperature in Kinlochewe was the result of a “brisk, mild, southerly flow” combined with a meteorological phenomenon known as “the Foehn effect”.

The spokesperson explained: “The Foehn effect takes place when air is forced to rise over the mountain and warms.

“The warming air then travels back down the other side of the mountain, bringing anomalously high temperatures in the area.

“Although it was a mild day, it was also very windy across Scotland.

“Yellow wind warnings are in force, and we have recorded a gust of 71mph at South Uist in the Western Isles.”

Elsewhere in the Highlands on Sunday afternoon, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service deployed crews to put out a wildfire in the Glencanisp area of Lochinver which at one point covered approximately 1.5 miles.

A spokesperson said: “We mobilised three appliances – two from Ullapool and one from Lairg – and they left the scene at 5pm.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in