Hottest place in the UK was wettest last year

For the residents roasting in the highest temperatures seen in the country this year, rain must seem a distant memory.

But the Suffolk village of Santon Downham – which saw the mercury rise to 33.3C (91.9F) on Monday – was last year the wettest place in the UK on a June day. Two inches (49.8mm) of rain fell there in just 12 hours on June 27, 2017 – close to the amount it would normally expect for the whole month.

And it has also previously recorded the lowest temperature throughout Britain, including a bone-chilling -4.8C (23F) on December 3, 2012, and an even more shocking -5.6C (21.9F) in the frosty June of 1962.

These meteorogical highs and lows have seen it crowned as having the most topsy-turvy weather in the land.

Meteorologist Peter McAward, of MeteoGroup, explained that Santon Downham’s sandy ground was a key factor in its weather conditions. ‘The temperature anomalies you can attribute to the fact that where the [weather] sensor is quite sandy, which means the area is quite susceptible to getting hot or cold,’ he said.

‘Sand is a pretty good conductor and heats the air up more efficiently than grass would.

‘The same principle works for cold readings – it would cool off a little bit quicker at night. As far as the wet recording goes, that’s just luck of the draw.’