Summer on the way as mercury hits 22C
Guernsey reached its highest temperature of the year yesterday but is not going to be hit by the heatwave predicted to affect the UK.
As nearly all parts of the England are set to swelter under a yellow weather warning for excess heat, with temperatures set to hit 30C, the Guernsey Met Office said the island will be protected by its maritime position.
Guernsey reached 21.4C on Sunday and hit 22.4C yesterday afternoon – the highest temperature recorded since 9 October last year.
Wednesday is expected to see a peak at around 24C, but temperatures will be around 29C in sweltering London.
‘The islands are surrounded by waters of the English Channel which temper our extremes in temperature throughout the year,’ said a Met Office spokesman, 'thus leading to milder winters and cooler summers than more landlocked areas such as the UK and nearby France. Current sea temperatures are around 14C.’
Although the dry weather is forecast to continue into next week, with a temperatures hovering around 20C, the Met said it was not possible to know if this would continue.
The island has enjoyed 230.2 hours of sunshine this month, up on an average of 188.3hours. But temperatures have been below average.
‘Temperatures so far in June have been rather disappointing with the current monthly mean around 1C below the long term average,’ the Met Office said.
‘Hopefully this week will go some way to recovering that deficit.’
Bobbie Odoli, who works at Surfside Kiosk at Port Soif, said they would love a heatwave.
‘For us its the more sun the better, it can almost never be too hot,’ she said.
‘June had been hit and miss so far. We are so weather-dependent, it has been overcast this morning and we’ve had a few people in for breakfast, but as soon as the sun comes out you know we will be busy.’
As the sunny weather arrives the GSPCA is warning islanders to be mindful of how heat will affect their pets.
‘With the high temperatures it is extremely important that we don’t take our dogs out in the car when shopping,’ said GSPCA manager Steve Byrne.
'As those in vehicles are at real risk.
'If your dog is left in the car, even if parked in the shade, as the sun moves it could put them at a real risk of heat exhaustion.
'We also have to think of wildlife, it’s really important to put out water and food, especially wet food for hedgehogs so they don’t get dehydrated, and bowls of shallow water for the birds and other wild animals that visit your garden.’
