Scotland records hottest day so far as heatwave hits

Scotland has recorded its hottest day of the year so far, with Threave in Dumfries and Galloway reaching 30.7C on Monday.

The Met Office confirmed the country is now officially experiencing a heatwave after an extended period of hot weather.

A number of weather stations across the country have reached 25C or above for three days in a row.

The temperature recorded in Threave was the warmest June day for the station.

Records go back over 60 years.

Scotland's previous hottest day of 2023 was recorded in Auchincruive, South Ayrshire, on Saturday.

The mercury hit 29.8C, and the warm weather is set to continue for the next week.

Hot spots across the country included Eskdalemuir in Dumfries and Galloway and Aviemore.

While people have enjoyed the rising temperatures, firefighters have warned of an increased risk of wildfires.

On Saturday, the fire service tackled a wildfire which broke out south of Inverness in the Daviot area, with local residents advised to keep windows and doors closed because of smoke.

The blaze was about 30 miles (48km) from Cannich - the site of another recent wildfire thought be the largest recorded in the UK.

The Met Office forecasts that next week the risk of thundery downpours will continue in some areas and temperatures are likely to remain above average.

It has extended the yellow warning for thunderstorms in the Highlands and western Scotland until Tuesday at 21:00.

The B863 near Kinlochleven was blocked by a landslide following a downpour on Monday night.

And the railway line south of Inverness was closed as a precaution while engineers dealt with flooding in the area.

Network Rail Scotland said the line near Tomatin would need to be inspected before it could be opened to trains.

Transport links in Lochaber have also affected by a landslide and flooding.

Debris has fallen on to a section of the A86 at Roybridge between Laggan and Spean Bridge blocking the road.

Meanwhile, a section of the West Highland railway line in the same area has been damaged by flooding.

ScotRail said disruption to services was likely.

Drumnadrochit in the Highlands recorded its wettest June day on record with 51.2mm of rain, most of which fell in a two-hour period.

It was the wettest day at the station since 4 December 2015.

Environment agency Sepa has also warned of significant water scarcity in the Loch Maree area of the Highlands, and moderate scarcity in Ness in the Highlands and Esk in Dumfriesshire.

On Sunday, Auchincruive was the only place in Scotland that met technical heatwave conditions.

However, the Met Office does not confirm heatwaves based on individual stations.

Threshold temperatures must be recorded across a wider number of weather stations to be considered a heatwave.

And on Monday, a number of weather stations met the threshold of three days at 25C or above.

Cooler temperatures were recorded across northern Scotland.

Tourists from relatively warmer countries have called the hot spell "very pleasant".

Lisa Merrifield and her family are visiting Scotland on holiday from their home in San Antonio, Texas.

"A heatwave for us is multiple days over 100F (37C)," she said.

"This is bearable, it's been very pleasant while we've been here."

"We would trade this for our summer," added Derek Charette. "It's hot every day."

Sam Kidner and Naomi Brown from New Zealand said the Scottish heatwave was far more humid than a New Zealand heatwave.

"It's not hugely hot compared to what we're used to," said Naomi.

"It's definitely more humid," said Sam. "It's warm, so we're sweating a little bit here.

"I'm looking forward to the rain. A heatwave for us is a bit less humid so it's definitely more comfortable."

A heatwave is an extended period of hot weather exceeding the expected conditions of the area at that time of year.

In the UK, a location must record daily maximum temperatures which meet or exceed the heatwave temperature threshold for that time of year at least three days in a row.

Heatwaves are extreme weather events, but research shows that climate change is making these events more likely.

It is not possible for meteorologists to tie single weather events such as the current heatwave to climate change.

But experts are in no doubt that climate change is causing global temperatures to rise.

Britain has been slowly getting warmer since the 19th Century. In the past three decades, the UK has become 0.9C warmer.

The 10 hottest years since 1884 have all happened since 2002. And none of the coldest years has been recorded this century.

Scotland experienced two heatwaves last year - in July and August.

The country saw its highest temperature ever of 34.8C at Charterhall in the middle of July last year. This broke the previous record of 32.9C recorded during the 2003 European heatwave.