27-04-2025
Scotland braced for 22C sunshine in days as weather map turns red
It's thought that weather records could be broken amid a hot spell
FEELING THE HEAT Scotland braced for 22C sunshine in days as weather map turns red
SCOTLAND is poised for its sunniest April on record with 22C sunshine forecast within days.
With four days left to add to the current total, we need just over 28 hours of sunshine before midnight on Wednesday to eclipse the 214.5 weather record set in 2021.
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Crowds flocked to Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh to enjoy the sunshine
Credit: Alamy
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Roasting hot weather brings the crowds out to Portobello Beach
Credit: Andrew Barr
And with long spells of blue sky weather forecast for the coming days, it's almost certain we'll smash the second-best record from 2020, of 203.7 hours.
Should the records be broken, it would mean that the three sunniest Aprils in history have all happened since 2020.
Forecaster Grahame Madge of the Met Office said: 'We are definitely noticing a trend towards more sunshine reaching the UK, though it is not an exact science.'
Tomorrow should see an end to the showery weather which featured across Scotland at the weekend, with things really picking up by Tuesday, when the BBC Weather Service predicts sunshine and highs of 21C (70F).
The Borders town of Kelso is expected to hit 22C (72F) on Wednesday, the final day of a very sunny April.
Rather than holding global warming responsible, climate change experts believe Scotland's sunny Aprils could be down to pollution levels falling in the world's shipping lanes.
Bob Ward, of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, said: 'I think we can put the increase in sunshine levels - in part - down to cleaner air in the UK and Northern Europe.
'The global shipping industry is now working towards cleaner standards and that could be having a major impact on our weather.
'There is less particulate matter in the atmosphere and we are seeing a trend in the UK to more sunshine all year round.'
It may not be a coincidence, therefore, that the three sunniest Aprils have happened within the last five years.
In 2020 and 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic brought to a halt much of the world's transport.
Ships didn't sail, planes remained on the ground and people were unable to use their vehicles due to government-led restrictions.
What followed in April 2020 was the second-sunniest April on record in Scotland, followed by the unprecedented 214.5 hours of sunshine a year later, when COVID restrictions were still in place.
The Met Office State of the Climate report last summer said the decade between 2014 and 2023 had four per cent more hours of sunshine each year than the average between 1991 and 2020.
Compared to the period 1961-1990, the sunshine hours increase was nine per cent.
