Two ladies, seen through heat haze, walk on the promenade in Folkestone, England on 23 July 2019. Photo: Gareth Fuller / PA Images / Getty Images
Two ladies, seen through heat haze, walk on the promenade in Folkestone, England on 23 July 2019. Photo: Gareth Fuller / PA Images / Getty Images

LONDON, 29 July 2019 (AP) – Britain has officially had its hottest day on record.

Weather agency the Met Office says the temperature reached 38.7°C (101.7°F) at Cambridge University Botanic Garden in eastern England during last week’s heat wave.

The temperature was recorded Thursday and confirmed Monday after “quality control and analysis” by the Met Office.

The previous U.K. record was 38.5°C (101.3°F), set in August 2003.

Temperature records fell across Europe last week as a suffocating heat wave swept up from the Sahara.

A member of the Queen’s Lifeguard marches at Horseguards as temperatures rise far above 30 Celsius in London, on 25 July 2019. Photo: Frank Augstein / AP Photo
A member of the Queen’s Lifeguard marches at Horseguards as temperatures rise far above 30 Celsius in London, on 25 July 2019. Photo: Frank Augstein / AP Photo

Met office climate scientist Mark McCarthy said climate change was making extreme temperatures more common.

He said “climate change has increased the likelihood and severity of heatwave episodes across Europe, which will have also increased the risks of a 40 Celsius temperature event in the U.K.”

It’s official: UK broke temperature record during heat wave