Could it be the hottest August Bank Holiday on record?

The late August bank holiday in 2017 could be the hottest on record. Credit: Joanne Joyce

The Cambridgeshire town of March currently holds the record for the hottest late August Bank Holiday on record.

On 27 August 1990 the temperature in March reached 28.3°C although some authorities dispute the record because it doesn't tally with other readings in the area.

The Met Office official record for a late August Bank Holiday is 27.2°C (81°F) in East Bergholt in Suffolk in 1984.

Forecasters says it could get hotter than that this Bank Holiday Monday.

Met Office forecasters are predicting the maximum temperature in East Anglia on Monday to be around 28°C but some places in the South East and London could reach 30°C.

The day will almost certainly be the hottest day of August in 2017 given that the month has been disappointingly cool in the Anglia region this year.

The UK's highest temperature on Sunday was 27.0°C (80.6°F) recorded at Kew Gardens in London. The hottest place in the Anglia region on Sunday was Cavendish in Suffolk where the thermometer topped out at 25.5°C (77.9°C).

Up to the 27 August, the average maximum temperature in the Anglia region in 2017 was 21°C, which is about 1°C colder than normal for August.

Despite the cool August, the summer overall - June, July and August together - has been warmer than average.

That is thanks to near-record-breaking temperatures in June. June in East Anglia was the second warmest on record after 1976.

August overall is set to be cooler than normal in East Anglia but the three months of summer will be warmer. Credit: Keefy Weefy from Luton

Bank Holiday weather can sometimes be a mixed blessing.

The August Bank Holiday in 2016 saw a highest maximum temperature in the Anglia region of 24.1°C (75.4°C) recorded in Writtle, Essex.

But the previous two in 2015 and 2015 saw temperatures barely reaching 16° with heavy rain and mostly cloudy skies.

Sunday during the 2017 August Bank Holiday weekend in Hertford. Credit: Carla Sears

Before 1965 the August Bank Holiday in England was at the start of the month.

It moved to the first Monday after the last Saturday in August from 1965 until 1970 which sometimes meant that it fell in September.

From 1971 the late August Bank Holiday has always fallen on the last Monday of August.

June in East Anglia was much warmer than normal, July was about average but August overall has been cool. Credit: Joanne Joyce

Maximum temperatures in the Anglia region on Sunday 27 August 2017

  • 25.5°C in Cavendish, Suffolk

  • 25.4°C in Writtle, Essex

  • 25.0°C in Andrewsfield near Braintree, Essex

  • 24.6°C in Cambridge

  • 24.6°C in Harpenden, Hertfordshire

  • 24.6°C in Woburn, Bedforshire

  • 24.3°C in Bedford

  • 24.3°C in Stowe, Buckinghamshire

  • 24.2°C in Charsfield, Suffolk

  • 23.3°C in Northampton

  • 22.9°C in Marham, Norfolk

  • 19.6°C in Cromer, Norfolk