The highest January temperature ever recorded in the UK is around 19.9°C , set in the Scottish Highlands.

Record temperature and where it happened

  • The UK’s highest January temperature on record stands at 19.9°C , according to a Met Office summary of January weather extremes.
  • This record was set in the northwest Highlands of Scotland , an area that frequently appears in heat records because of local terrain and wind effects.

Recent near‑record: 19.6°C in 2024

  • On 28 January 2024 , a temperature of 19.6°C was recorded at Kinlochewe in the northwest Highlands, described at the time as the UK’s warmest ever January day on a provisional basis.
  • That 19.6°C reading beat the long‑standing previous official January record of 18.3°C , which had been reached several times at sites including Inchmarlo, Aboyne and Aber in earlier years.

Why it gets so warm in January

  • Meteorologists point to a mix of southerly or south‑westerly winds bringing unusually mild air from the Azores or off Africa, plus local topography focusing that warmth in certain spots.
  • A key factor is the Foehn effect , where air crosses mountains, warms and dries, then descends on the lee side, creating small pockets of exceptional heat that can briefly push mid‑winter temperatures close to 20°C.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.