They’ve also claimed that a provisional new UK maximum temperature record of 19.6C has been set at the same location. Which is news to me. I’m about 250 miles south of Kinlochewe, in the same southerly airflow and I can tell you it was very cold and blustery out walking the dogs today. I came back frozen. The BBC claims that the extraordinarily high temperature in Kinlochewe (which beat the previous UK January record by over 1C) was ‘partly’ due to the Foehn Effect, but also due to warm winds blowing all the way from the Sahara. Well they must have got warmer on their way to Scotland is all I can say!
A new UK record high temperature has been set in the Scottish Highlands, according to provisional figures from the Met Office.
It recorded a peak of 19.6C (67.3F) at Kinlochewe on Sunday, making it hotter than Rome and the Cote d'Azur.
If confirmed it would be the highest January temperature in the UK, breaking a record set in 2003 by more than a full degree celsius.
It would also be the highest winter temperature ever recorded in Scotland.
The temperature in Kinlochewe was significantly higher than the 18.3C (65F) recorded at Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, on 3 January 2003.
BBC Scotland forecaster and meteorologist Calum MacColl said the balmy weather was due in part to something known as the Foehn effect.
He explained: "The Foehn effect is where, within a stable atmospheric environment, air is forced to rise up and over the hills and mountains, before descending back towards the surface on the leeward or downwind side of the mountains.
"On the windward side on the mountains, the air is mild and moist, but will cool by around 0.6 degree Celsius per 100m as it rises up the hill side. However, as the air mass then reaches the tops of the hills, it then descends and in doing so will dry out and subsequently warm by 1 degree Celsius per 100m.
"This results in higher temperatures being recorded on the downwind side compared with the windward side on the mountains."
He said southerly winds were also drawing up a very mild air mass across Scotland, leading to unusually warm conditions.
But even if it did reach 19.6C in Kinlochewe (and we don’t discover that the thermometer was sited next to the air exchange unit of the local takeaway, or whatever), this still leaves the utterly absurd forecast of 27C to explain. How could the Met Office have forecast a maximum temperature in Kinlochewe, today, just hours in advance, which exceeded the UK January record by almost nine degrees Celsius and which actually exceeded the observed temperature by nearly 7.5C? It doesn’t make sense. What was the forecaster smoking?
Of course, the ‘climate crisis’ mob will no doubt have a field day with this news, even though this new ‘UK record’ is very highly localised and almost certainly due to the Foehn Effect, having nothing whatsoever to do with climate change.
Good to call them out on this, Jaime. It seems to be a consistent theme to 'make mistakes' that conveniently allow a lie to race half-way round the world. Even if they subsequently recant, the 'nudge unit' are happy with their work.
See also: https://reaction.life/the-heat-is-getting-to-everyones-head/
It was a perfect foehn effect day today. I have taken a snapshot of the 500-1000mb thickness chart, will attempt to add a link later (Unable to attach to this). Believe the 19C, but not the 27, must be a glitch in automated model output. The thickness shows the warm tongue of air from North Africa extending northwards over Scotland. We are in the warm sector with a strong southerly wind flow, perfect for locations in the lee of mountains, especially where there is a long overland fetch. I am in Aberdeenshire, where we had an afternoon temp of 12 fallen to 10 now, but we need a sw for best effect. I too have been out in the wind which is strong blustery and cold, but the cold is from the wind chill.
Not like me to side with the Met Office, but meteorological explanation is spot on. It’s the political wing of the establishment that I take issue with.
I also looked on the Met Office app where it shows 27C My apple app gave 19C.