Coningsby WMO 03391 – An “Internationally Agreed Distance from the Runway” Record Holder and “A Denier’s tale”.

53.09390 -0.17291 Met Office CIMO Assessed Class 3 Archived temperature records from 1/1/1978

Before reading any of this review I strongly recommend viewing this short, but quite spectacular, YouTube clip to fully appreciate the locality of this alleged UK all time highest temperature reading.

For aficionados of military aviation, “Ted’s” Youtube channel is a must watch and entertaining for even those of casual interest. What the above clip dramatically shows is the enormous amount of heat generated by high performance jet engines especially on take off. The heat haze is certainly not restricted to the local vicinity. Everyone who has been anywhere near either a military or commercial jet propelled aircraft will have experienced the effects in one way or another. Even Wikipedia dedicated a page to Jet Blast which warrants quoting in full.

“Jet blast is the phenomenon of rapid air movement produced by the jet engines of aircraft, particularly on or before takeoff. A large jet-engine aircraft can produce winds of up to 100 knots (190 km/h; 120 mph) as far away as 60 metres (200 ft) behind it at 40% maximum rated power. Jet blast can be a hazard to people or other unsecured objects, and can reach wind speeds comparable to those of a Category 5 hurricane, causing roof failure or total collapse in buildings, and severely damaging or destroying things like mobile homes, utility buildings, and trees.

Despite the power and potentially destructive nature of jet blast, there are relatively few jet blast incidents. Due to the invisible nature of jet blast and the aerodynamic properties of light aircraft, light aircraft moving about airports are particularly vulnerable. Pilots of light aircraft frequently stay off to the side of the runway, rather than follow in the centre, to negate the effect of the blast. Occasionally, when the ground surface is badly chosen, jet blast from aircraft can rip up sections of asphalt weighing up to tens of kilograms (double-digits of pounds), damaging the aircraft.

Maho Beach in Sint Maarten is famous for its unique proximity to the runway of  Princess Juliana International Airport, allowing people to experience jet blast, a practice that is discouraged by the local authorities. A tourist was killed on 12 July 2017 when she was blown away by jet blast, which caused her head to smash into concrete. Skiathos Airport in Greece similarly allows people to experience jet blast, as its runway is located near a public road.”

This is a wider scale view of Coningsby {note none of the town of Coningsby is visible.}

A few questions any reasonable impartial person may ask. How do those Typhoon Jets get to and from the hangars to the north west and the runway? Just how close are powered jets getting to the screen? What effect are the jets having on the temperatures recorded?

Answers to the first two are – via the taxiway and just 20 metres. The Met Office’s answer to the third is that readings are taken an “internationally agreed distance from the runway” which is a metric that simply does not exist. Most interestingly a former Met Office manager who provided me with information on Metrology made the point ” For example a site on an airport may present no problems for a MiG; the quicker response of the Pt may catch a quick burst of an aeroplane’s exhaust as it passes en route for take-off or landing.   This will result in a higher Maximum Temperature recorded for that day. “{my bold}

It seems, however, that the Met Office does not accept Jet Blast can affect temperature readings at aviation sites and later tried to “debunk” claims that it can. This rather makes their installation of Jet Blast Screens at Heathrow airport around that weather station either a pointless exercise or an indication that they do recognise jet blast when it suits them. {Tim Channon’s Heathrow review shows the Jet Blast Screen installation.}

So here is the Met Office version of events leading to Coningsby’s “record”. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/binaries/content/assets/metofficegovuk/pdf/weather/learn-about/uk-past-events/interesting/2022/2022_03_july_heatwave_v1.pdf

I will discuss some of those other “record breaking” in other reviews but note the 40°C threshold was crossed only in other Class 5 junk sites.

At the time I well remember the media hype with excited weather presenters predicting almost exactly where they anticipated records would be set and of course they were right – they had to be. Even to this day the vast majority of the UK population believe this reading was taken in the small town of Coningsby in Lincolnshire simply because that was all they were ever told in main stream media. In fact many of the residents of Coningsby itself did not know where the weather station actually was. It seems particularly strange that the Met Office could not have been honest enough to name the site where it really is as RAF Coningsby – but then just perhaps more people may have queried the readings validity.

Regardless, the Met Office opted to “debunk” any possible querying of the reading’s accuracy even to the local residents. https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/met-office-explains-coningsby-records-8736107

“The Met Office has explained why a Lincolnshire town may be recording high temperatures and if it really is the hottest place in the county. Coningsby broke the record for the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK when it peaked at 40.3C last summer.

Some doubted the accuracy of the readings and claimed that the weather station is next to an RAF Coningsby runway which sees Typhoons taking off and producing hot gas. The Met Office debunked these theories, stating that they have a “rigorous process” in place to ensure accurate readings and that the recordings haven’t been “adversely influenced by other factors”.

Whilst MSM journalists trotted out the official Government line and dutifully peddled the climate crisis strapline, a real journalist chose to conduct proper investigative research. Chris Morrison at the Daily Sceptic used Freedom of Information requests to demonstrate that the record readings occurred concurrent with 3 Typhoon jet take offs and landings. {Similar but not the same as those in the headline youtube clip) These readings were very short term

The article continues:

The Met Office and MSM response to this diligent and demonstrably provable excellent investigative journalism was simply to brand Chris as a “Climate Change Denier”. Quite how the revealing of conveniently hidden and highly relevant facts is considered a bad thing is quite baffling. That other media outlets should openly attack Chris on behalf of the concealing Government agency is extremely worrying.

In summary, an official Met Office misleadingly named weather station is located at a major RAF base. The Stevenson screen has no jet blast protection. In addition to vast amounts of unnatural surroundings (thousands of feet of runway and taxiway, parking aprons, buildings, hangars etc) multiple high performance jet aircraft regularly take off and land and taxi past the screen in very close proximity. Three powerful jet aircraft were proved to be in action concurrent with the sudden and brief elevation and then reduction in temperature readings on what was already a hotter than normal day.

And yet despite all of this evidence, the Met Office fervently stands by their unquestionable accuracy and through its partner bodies (BBC, MSM et alia) actively denigrates anyone with the temerity to prove them wrong. This is not an acceptable situation and needs to be changed.

Finally for those interested this is a lengthy you tube clip of 26 Typhoons taxiing and taking off. You can spot the screen (through the heat haze) multiple times with the first glimpse at 2 minutes 4 seconds in. Clearly not the best place to take temperature readings to contribute to the historical temperature record of the natural environment……but the Met Office knows better.

Source: https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2025/01/29/coningsby-wmo-03391-an-internationally-agreed-distance-from-the-runway-record-holder-and-a-deniers-tale/