Ladies enjoy lunch in the sun at Blyth in Northumberland, England. Photos / AP
Ladies enjoy lunch in the sun at Blyth in Northumberland, England. Photos / AP
Winter weather in the United Kingdom is known to be raw and bleak but, today, the sun shone in all its glory and temperatures surged to levels not seen before during the cold, dark season.
Temperatures in the community of Trawsgoed in Wales shot up to 20.3 Celsius, the warmest temperature ever recorded in the United Kingdom in February or any winter month.
Such weather would be unusually warm even in July or August in this typically chilly location about 32km inland from the cool waters of the Irish Sea.
The previous highest February (and winter) temperature observed in the United Kingdom was 19.7C set on February 13, 1998, at Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London.
Following a mild weekend, the temperature in London's Hyde Park spiked to 19C under a cloudless sky, while a weather station in northwest London exceeded 19.8C, which would be a February record for the city.
Brits lucky enough to be outside and not tied to a desk in an office were seen sunbathing, eating ice cream and swapping their winter clothes for T-shirts and sunglasses.
The unusual dose of warm weather had some Brits hanging out in their gardens for the first time in months, while others headed to their local pub for a pint in the afternoon sun. Local parks were busier than usual - and one sun worshipper in south London was spotted in a bikini over the weekend.
For many, sun in the United Kingdom can only mean one thing: Get the barbecue going and the sausages sizzling.
While many took to social media to celebrate the err, arrival of summer in February, others commented that the warm weather should not be a cause of celebration but for concern:
"It's 19C in London today, inching toward a new historical record for the UK in February. How disconcerting that a warm, sunny day can be at once pleasant and absolutely terrifying," author Jason Hickel wrote on Twitter.
The historic temperature was reached during the continuation of a major, long-lived warm spell over western Europe. Etienne Kapikian, a meteorologist for Meteo France, described the responsible air mass as "exceptionnelle" in a tweet.
A massive ridge of high pressure or heat dome has sat over the region for almost a week.
People observe starlings over the Royal Pier on Aberystwyth beach in Wales.
The balmy weather comes just four days after Scotland recorded its highest February temperature. Aboyne, Scotland, soared to 18.3C on February 21.
Record warm weather spread into other parts of western Europe as well.
The main weather station in the Netherlands at De Bilt logged a high temperature of 17.8 C, the warmest ever recorded in February. Kapikian tweeted that monthly warm weather records were also falling in northern France.
The warmth marks a stunning contrast from the weather exactly a year ago, when the United Kingdom and much of Europe shivered in a punishing Siberian cold blast dubbed the "beast from the east." It unleashed not only frigid air but also heavy snowfall.
The weather pattern in place right now is the complete opposite.
But the "beast from the east" appears to be the exception rather than the norm in western Europe which, like the rest of the world, is experiencing swiftly rising temperatures.
The summer of 2018 was Europe's hottest on record, accentuated by a heat wave in July that brought the hottest weather ever observed in multiple locations in Norway, Finland and Sweden as well as Portugal, Glasgow, Scotland, Shannon, Ireland, Belfast, Castlederg, Northern Ireland; Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Copenhagen, and Berlin.
Mild weather is expected to linger in the United Kingdom and western Europe until the second half of this week, when the more customary cool, damp weather returns to ring in March.
