It's a carbon copy of what happened back in  2003. with a 38.1c being beaten by a more random site 

And yet if you chose the table of data it only shows 10am readings each day. 

This sums up the quality of the Met Office operation.

First...

https://twitter.com/metoffice/status/1154635350024867841

Then a couple of hours later...

https://twitter.com/metoffice/status/1154680158105800704

I think there will be a site assessment/investigation, but it's likely that we'll have a new UK record.

Minimum temp here last night was 22.6C, pretty sure I've never recorded such a high min as that.  It was still at around 27C at midnight!

My sensor recorded 37c late yesterday afternoon. It isn’t screened but it usually agrees with other stations and I believe Nottingham recorded 36.4c.  

https://twitter.com/metoffice/status/1154709410117234693

The MetOffice actively talking about other nation records - yet here we are 24hrs no 100% sure if our record is nailed.

Someone has asked them directly

https://twitter.com/metoffice/status/1154709410117234693

If they dont respond to that Id say its being looked at and we could be on for a new record.

Absolutely.

We should have a network of official weather stations, with live data, and historical extremes for each site.

We also seem far too keen to change and disregard sites quite readily (take Woodford/Rostherne as an example up here). Manchester Airport is on XCWeather but it isn't an official Met station anymore?

It proved remarkably difficult to get reliable data from yesterday.

All very confusing IMO.

I've just been down there, here's a pic taken this morning:

http://web.yurgn31.50mail.com/botanic.jpeg

No big bushes or poly-tunnels this month, but plenty of bare soil.

One thing I will give our own Met Office (Met Eireann) here in Ireland is that they provide hourly and daily data from all of the official synoptic stations, and daily, hourly and even minute data from all of the climatological stations at the end each month. In contrast, because I like to keep an eye on Northern Ireland data to compare and contrast with that of the Rep, the UK Met only gives the daily high, low and maximum rainfall from which ever station recorded them at the end of each day. Very strange behavior and a behavior that seems unique amongst all of the State run Met Agencies not only across Europe, but the States as well. 

Can anyone explain why the Monks Wood Met Office station stopped reporting 3 days ago?

That, along with Bedford which mysteriously stopped reporting yesterday, must have been in contention?

Thanks James

Perhaps you should tweet that picture to the MetOffice as a reminder...

In this day and age we should not be relying on a set-up like that. It is beyond a joke. I really can't see that counting.

Yes it has been a complete shambles. If a new record is declared it will be questioned relentlessly and some people will not accept it. Credibility is shot to shreds. Regardless of one's views on climate change it is obvious that temperature data should now be considered "business critical" and that implies the system must have redundancy built in and be resilient.

Its apparently got a four start rating and was awarded a silver rosette last year. Still no mention from the MetOffice. This whole charade is a total embarrassment. I said it earlier, they need to stop spending money on their website and start to invest in the reporting network. 

It looks no worse than Brogdale, and they counted that. Personally I think the 2003 Brogdale reading should be disregarded - it's clearly way out of line with neighbouring sites. If I had my way, the max for 2003 would be 38.1 at Gravesend (although even Gravesend was far from ideal) and the max for 2019 would be 38.1 at Cambridge NIAB.

Re the comments above about the new record being questioned, nobody seemed to quibble about the Brogdale reading even though that seems far more dodgy. (Although I noticed that The Times on Tuesday attributed the 38.5C record to Kew Gardens on the front page!)

But I agree. Spend money on a decent, extensive and reliable network of weather stations, not on redesigning the website and preaching on Twitter.

Data will continue to be checked and verified next few days

— marco petagna (@Petagna) July 26, 2019

Thanks for getting the update @Brain. Its a shame we have to wait this long - imagine if we had known for sure yesterday we would have been able to move on or celebrate in style.

Although he didn't answer part of your question.