Darwin sleepless under record heat

Australia is known for the intensity of its heat. In fact the wall-to-wall sunshine is one of the reasons us sun starved Brits cite for wanting to move there. But you can get to much of a good thing. On Sunday 25th July Darwin capital of the Northern Territories sweltered under the hottest nocturnal temperatures since they started keeping records back in 1941. The lowest temperature recorded that night was 26.6ºC, breaking the previous record of 25.1ºC and way above the seasonal average of 19.2ºC. The freak temperatures were caused by a blanket of cloud hanging over the city which prevented the daytime heat dissipating overnight as usual. Ironically, July often produces the region's coolest night of the year with the lowest recorded temperature for the month being 10.4ºC, recorded back in 1942.