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The UK has some of the better weather records. Eg "The oldest ongoing instrumental record of temperature in the world is the Central England Temperature record
by benj111 8y ago
The UK has some of the better weather records. Eg
"The oldest ongoing instrumental record of temperature in the world is the Central England Temperature record, started in 1659." [1]
So while they may not be very good, they're some of the best we've got.
[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/climatechange/2009/03/since_records_began_a_brief_gu.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/climatechange/2009/03/since_recor...
- makomk 8y agoWe have enough measurements to do reasonable estimates of the monthly average temperature in one region of the UK (with a bit of finagling), but that doesn't help here. This record high is effectively the maximum temperature at any location in the UK, which is something that can only be determined with a widespread network of temperature stations taking multiple measurements a day, and we didn't have that until relatively recently.
- benj111 8y agoWhilst having data for the whole country is obviously good, having data for one fixed location stretching back 350 years is good too. You can for example compare the recent heat wave to past years at the same location. I'm also not sure what utility measuring the highest temperature serves, except for making good headlines. Does it make any difference whether the highest temperature was recorded in Cornwall or Devon? Especially as the UK is an arbitrary human construct. I'd be much more interested to know that the Shetlands had recorded temperatures 25% above normal, compared to Cornwall's 20% for example.