Warmest Bonfire Night on record as UK sees ‘remarkable’ November temperatures

The UK experienced record-breaking Bonfire Night weather, with a “remarkable” series of warm temperatures recorded across the country this month.

The temperature overnight on Wednesday 5 November only dropped to 14.4C at Teddington in London, provisionally making it the mildest Bonfire Night on record.

The previous record for the night of 5-6 November was set as far back as 1938, when a high of 13.9C was seen at Gordon Castle in Scotland.

This November has seen 33 new high daily minimum temperature records set across the UK, with dozens of weather stations reporting temperatures exceeding 13C this autumn.

The Met Office said the warm spell was due to mild air being drawn up from the south.

The national forecaster said: “Combined with cloudy nights which helped trap warmth in, it led to these mild overnight temperatures.

“Of course, climate change is elevating the background temperature, making events like this more likely. But there is no direct attribution to climate change through an attribution study.”

This “exceptional run of overnight warmth” comes after an October that was already warmer than average. The mean temperature in October was provisionally 0.7°C above the 1991-2020 average, with Scotland and Northern Ireland experiencing slightly warmer conditions than the rest of the country.

Looking at the forecast for next week, the Met Office said: “We have a band of rain crossing the UK today, but Saturday will see a ridge of higher pressure bringing more settled conditions, with good spells of brightness for many.

open image in gallery

“Temperatures will return closer to average, so nights will feel much cooler going forward. Further unsettled weather will move in from the west on Sunday, and this will remain the theme into next week, with spells of rain moving in from the west with occasional breezy spells.”

Regionally, weather stations in the South West and Wales broke records, including those in Cornwall, Devon, Dyfed and Clwyd. In the North and the Midlands, records were broken in Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Cumbria and Humberside.