Insight

Heatwave: Why is Hawarden always the hottest place in Wales?

The village in north Wales recorded highs of more than 37°C. Credit: PA

As scorching temperatures are felt across Wales, it's Hawarden which recorded the all time high once again, but why?

The north Wales village set the new record-breaking temperature during the heatwave at 37.1°C.

This replaced the old record of just over 35°C, which was also set by Hawarden.

In a bid to understand why this particular village lens itself to extreme heat, a Met Office expert has highlighted some of the possible reasons.

Meteorologist Matthew Box suggested the weather station at Hawarden Airport might provide some answers, as heat is known to reflect off tarmac - with some even melting during this heatwave.

It comes as a rare amber weather warning was issued for Wales by the Met Office. Credit: PA

However, it's the geographical position of the village which is also significant. Situated just north of the Shropshire Hills, Hawarden feels the warm air travelling up from the south.

Mr Box explained: "We had a combination of a very warm air mass, strong July sunshine and the Foehn effect yesterday."

A foehn is a dry, warm wind which travels downslope and builds up in the mountains or hills. It will often drop most of its moisture on windward slopes.

When this wind then travels over the hills and heads north, there is a "very long land track" along which the air can travel and be warmed up on its way over Hawarden.

It comes as the Met Office said new provisional figures showed the UK experienced the warmest night on record from Monday (18 July) into Tuesday (19 July).

Aberporth in west Wales recorded the highest minimum temperature in Wales at 24.5°C.

In a tweet, the UK’s national weather service announced: "It has provisionally been the warmest night on record in the UK.

"Temperatures didn’t fall below 25C in places, exceeding the previous highest daily minimum record of 23.9C, recorded in Brighton on 3rd August 1990."