Scorching hot day for NI as UK smashes winter record

For Northern Ireland, the hottest temperature today at time of writing was Armagh at 13.26pm, with 17.1C.

This is not a record-breaker though; the hottest February day ever in the Province was February 13, 1998, when temperatures hit 17.8C.

Meanwhile, Castlederg is believed to have been the next hottest today. It saw a temperature of 16.4C at 2.38pm.

Magilligan, believed to have been the third hottest place today, saw a temperature of 16.3C at 14.46pm.

In the UK as a whole at time of writing, the Met Office said that it had recorded a temperature of 21.2C in Kew, London, at 2.54pm today.

This is not just the highest February temperature ever recorded in the UK, but the highest ever recorded during meterological wintertime (December 1 through to the end of February), with records going back roughly 150 years.

Wales meanwhile broke its own regional record, with a temperature of 20.8C in Porthmadog today – the hottest February day in that country.

The previous Welsh record of 20.6C had been set just one day earlier.

The Met Office cautioned that the figures were provisional – they will not be 100% confirmed until much later tonight.

Forecaster Sarah Kent of the Met Office put the warm spell down to “a very mild front of air from the south”.

As to what is in store, she said for Northern Ireland, Wednesday will begin with patches of fog, then blue skies and sun; Thursday will begin bright but then become more cloudy; Friday will likewise have a bright start, followed by rain.

By Saturday, Northern Ireland can only look forward to “wet and windy” weather.