Record Breaking Weather Records for Beccles

Tuesday, 7 July 2026 12:00

This year's First Light Festival in Lowestoft benefitted by coinciding with some very warm weather.

Beccles has experienced one of its most extraordinary months of weather on record, according to long-running local weather observer, Steve Bartholomew.

June began with heavy rain after what was the third driest spring ever recorded at the site, with 41.7mm of rainfall during the three spring months. By the middle of June, persistent rain had already exceeded the total rainfall recorded throughout spring and matched the month's long-term average.

The weather then changed dramatically as a powerful heatwave developed across Europe and spread into the UK.

Steve recorded a maximum temperature of 38.4 degrees Celsius on Friday 26th June, verified using two separate thermometers housed in a Stevenson screen. That is almost four degrees higher than the previous highest temperature recorded at the site during the July 2022 heatwave and more than five degrees above the previous June record.

Official Met Office stations also recorded exceptionally high temperatures on the 26th June this year, with 37.7 degrees Celsius at Lingwood in Norfolk and 37.3 degrees Celsius at Santon Downham in Suffolk.

Steve said it is unusual for the hottest temperatures in the UK to be recorded in East Anglia and described the combination of an exceptionally dry spring, heavy early summer rainfall and record-breaking heat as unprecedented in his records.

The figures underline the remarkable weather experienced across east Suffolk during June - and now July, with multiple days reaching 30 Celsius or higher well before the height of summer.