Highest February temperature recorded for Maidenhead

Tuesday brought the highest temperature recorded for a February day in Maidenhead for at least half a century.

Dr Roger Brugge, a meteorologist at the University of Reading, said 19.9C was reached, the highest air temperature recorded in the town since before the earliest local records of 1953.

Longer records at the University of Reading ‘suggested’ that this week had enjoyed the warmest February day in East Berkshire for more than 100 years, he said.

Tuesday’s record temperature followed another unseasonably warm day on Monday, when the temperature reached 18.9C, which would normally be seen in late spring, he said.

“Over nine hours of bright sunshine were recorded on Monday.

“The air also has a southerly source and the generally light winds have also helped the heating process near the ground.”

“18.9C is the average afternoon temperature that we would expect in Maidenhead in late May.”

He stopped short of blaming global warming, however.

“It is impossible to ascribe any single weather event to climate change,” he said.

“Last year, 2018, the temperature struggled to reach 3C in light snowfall on the 26th and we were treated to even colder conditions in early March.”

However, temperatures were expected to be cooler and the sky cloudier later this week because the source of air will be ‘more westerly in direction’.