Even if this spell of weather wasn't going to be as sunny as I was expecting or hoping for, I was at least expecting it to be dry and yet we haven't even managed that as there has been a shower of rain as I write. That has been enough to dampen the ground as well but if this doesn't end up being enough to result in any actual rainfall being officially recorded at any of the major local Met Office stations, this period is still technically going to go down as "dry" period anyway according to the official data which to me just doesn't seem fair.

Apart from that though, today's maximum temperatures were 27.12°C at Edinburgh Gogarbank and 27.45°C at the botanic gardens in Edinburgh which makes today our second hottest day of both this year and this summer so far at both of those stations in addition to being our hottest day of this month so far. At the botanic gardens, this also at least provisionally set a new date record for today by quite a considerable margin.

However, a total of just 6.9 hours of sunshine was recorded for today at Edinburgh Gogarbank and with the outlook beyond tomorrow looking more changeable, that could now be the final nail in the coffin in terms of our chances of this month being sunnier than average here.

As I write though, the temperature is still a very warm and sticky 21°C here in Edinburgh.

A good sunny start with the odd patch of high cloud

Temperature at Swanston 17 C at 07:15 after a minimum of 15 C

Yes, there's nowhere near as much cloud around this morning so perhaps, we might actually get a decent sunshine total at Gogarbank for a change.

In addition to that, the Met Office are now going for a maximum of around 28°C which would actually make today even hotter than yesterday, although the BBC are saying "no" to that and are only going  for a maximum of around 26°C.

The date record for today at the botanic gardens in Edinburgh is 26.6°C as set only just last year. If the Met Office forecast is right, this date record will be broken with the date record for the same date then being broken in two successive years as a result. If it is the BBC forecast which is correct though, we might still challenge that date record but would probably not quite actually beat it. Only time will tell on which way that will go but as long as the skies remain much sunnier than they were yesterday, I would be more inclined to lean towards the Met Office forecast rather than the BBC forecast, so I reckon that this date record will probably go today.

Meanwhile, last night's overnight minimum temperature was 13.0°C at Edinburgh Gogarbank and 14.29°C at the botanic gardens in Edinburgh, so no date records for the minimum temperatures have been set here.

Currently around 17°C here in Edinburgh

Lows of 19c.

Our enemy today is not the North Sea but extensive medium to high level cloud which is already developing or moving in

We reached 25 C in the sun earlier

Now 31.5°C at 12.15hrs and feeling more then that! 

That enemy of there being too much cloud around is also that same enemy which all too often, prevents us from getting a frost in the winter even when that is forecast.

On this occasion, that has now stopped the temperatures from rising all that much in the last couple of hours. At 10am BST this morning, it had looked as though we were easily going to get past our heatwave threshold for the second day running and were already fairly close to that by then. As I write though even at coming up for 1pm BST, those thresholds have still not yet been met with a current temperature of 24.9°C at Edinburgh Gogarbank and 24.8°C at the botanic gardens in Edinburgh.

That is close enough to that heatwave threshold to mean that we might still have gone over that any once the actual maximum temperature is confirmed later on even if the temperature continues to refuse to rise any further, but there is also the chance that our heatwave threshold might not be met after all in which case, our heatwave chances would be scuppered after just a single day instead of after the two days that I was expecting.

With that in mind, the Met Office has downgraded today's forecast maximum to around 27°C with the BBC now going for our temperature during the rest of today to be no higher than it is just now.

I still think that our heatwave threshold will be met today, but it's probably not going to be quite as hot in the end as it was looking likely to be earlier on.

33°C at 13.50hrs.

The main thing of note though is that our heatwave threshold has now been met at all of my local stations here in Edinburgh which means that an official heatwave will now be recorded here in Edinburgh if tomorrow's maximum temperature reaches or exceeds 25°C.

Sadly though, that is not actually forecast to happen. The last time we were in this position, it was the North Sea Effect which scuppered those chances as that brought in cooler air on the third day. On this occasion, it isn't the North Sea which is likely to scupper that but instead, that will be down to a cold front moving through from the west and brining in cooler and fresher air, thus marking the start of a cooler period ahead (though it may still be fairly warm to begin with).

The radar map is showing some showery activity nearby but here in NW Edinburgh, it remains as bone dry as ever with a temperature of around 26°C despite the cloud cover.

I learned from my recent trip to the Borders that it hardly ever rains any more wherever I am regardless of whether it is or not where you are, and that is still continuing to apply back here in NW Edinburgh as well.

A bit of cloud beginning to appear, signs of a change ???

The clouds broke up a lot more in the latter part of this afternoon and this evening to leave us with some late sunshine to end the day, but with a total of just 5.6 hours of sunshine being recorded for today so far at Edinburgh Gogarbank as at 7:40pm BST (18:40 UTC) this evening.

Currently a very warm and sticky 23°C here in Edinburgh