SCOTLAND’S heatwave looks set to be a real record-breaker, with the country’s highest-ever temperature recorded last week, the Met Office has revealed.

Provisional data shows the mercury hit 33.2C in Motherwell on Thursday, beating the previous record of 32.9 C set in August 2003 at Greycrook in the Borders. However, the Met Office stressed all temperature observations are subject to a rigorous verification process.

The hot weather is expected to continue for the rest of this week.

The provisional statistics show it was one of the UK’s top five warmest Junes since 1910 for both maximum daytime and 24-hour average temperatures.

The UK average daytime temperature for the month was 19.9C, the same as in the June of the still talked-about summer of 1976. The hottest June came in 1940, with an average of 20.6C.

The statistics also show it was the fourth-sunniest June on record in the UK, behind 1957, 1940 and 1975.

The sunshine gave Scotland’s solar energy output a massive lift. Gina Hanrahan, acting head of policy at WWF Scotland said: “June was certainly a bumper month for solar power. Householders in cities across the country, including Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Perth, could have enjoyed more than 130% of their electricity and enough hot water for the whole month from solar energy alone.

“Wind output was slightly lower than last year but was still high enough to power more than two million homes and meet 87% of household electricity demand.”