Residents who saw UK’s highest temperature recall ‘unbearable’ heat a year on

A temperature of 40.3C was recorded in Coningsby, Lincolnshire, on July 19 last year as the country was hit with record high temperatures for several days.

It was also the first time the temperature rose above the 40C mark in the UK.

A year on from setting the record, residents and business owners in the town have described how they endured the conditions, which one said was “awful”.

Trevor Pattinson, manager of RH Papworth butchers in the town, said he and his staff still worked 10-hour days throughout the heatwave and despite the tough conditions, “everybody still wanted us to bake pies”.

He said: “We struggled, we topped out at 48 degrees inside when we had the big oven on.

“We are always eight to 10 degrees warmer in the shop anyway.

“It was unbearable. We had to have lots of water and ice cream.

“A 10-hour day in 45-degree heat, you weren’t worried about eating, you were just worried about hydrating.

“Most of the stock was OK, we did lose a little bit, but it was extreme – there was nothing we could do.”

Julia Harrington, who also works in the butchers, said she spent much of her day in the shop’s refrigerated unit due to the heat and was concerned about such an event happening again.

She said: “We worry about having to do it next year.

“There was a report about a heatwave coming this year and we were all getting a bit twitchy.”

The record at Coningsby was set a day after temperatures hit 38.1C at Santon Downham in Suffolk on July 18 last year.

While also holding the record for the hottest day ever recorded in the UK, Coningsby also currently jointly holds the record for the hottest day of 2023.

A temperature of 32.2C was recorded there on June 25, with the same temperature recorded in Chertsey, Surrey, on June 10.

So far this July, the highest temperature has been 30.2C, also recorded in Chertsey on July 7.

But there has been much more rain in July this year compared with 2022.

Holly Henes, 28, had to shield herself from the heat last summer while also caring for two young children, then aged seven and two.

She said: “It was awful. We all had to sleep in the living room with the two kids and get all the fans out.

“It was unbearable.

“The kids were up all night just whimpering and crying and there is nothing you can do to help.”

Ms Henes said her family closed the curtains during the day and had a paddling pool out, but did not have it out for long due to the heat. SHe said: “I would not want it to happen again.”

But she also said it felt strange for her town to hold a nationwide record, adding: “It feels like a small place that not many people know about, and now they do.”

The town is home to RAF Coningsby, which hosts three Typhoon fighter units, and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

Mother and son, Doreen and Henry Hutton, who are from the town, said they stayed indoors for much of the day last year but did manage to get some shopping done.

Mr Hutton, 56, said: “It was not too bad, but we did see some sights from the next-door neighbours laying out on the lawn in bikinis and on top of the coal house.

“I don’t mind the 20s, but the 40s are very hard to deal with.

“It’s the way of the world now, with climate change.

“It does worry me. In a few years’ time, it will be even hotter.”

Coningsby is unlikely to break its record this month, according to Met Office forecasts, with “unsettled conditions” including “cloud, showers and some more prolonged periods of rain” expected for the rest of July.