Hot topic
Last week’s Barometer detailed past UK temperature records. Those were broken by this week’s heatwave. On Monday a new Welsh record was set when temperatures hit 35.3˚C in Gogerddan and on Tuesday England measured a new high of 40.3˚C at Coningsby in Lincolnshire.
Source: Met Office
Inn crowd
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants released its 20th annual listing of top dining spots around the globe. Italy and Spain have the most with 6 each. Denmark, France, Japan, Peru and the US have 3, while Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Mexico and the UK have 2.
Source: The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
Pop around
Queen became the first band to sell seven million copies of one album in the UK. As many as a quarter of households may own their 1981 Greatest Hits album. The rest of the top ten, in descending order:
Abba, Gold 6m
The Beatles, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 5.3m
Adele, 21 5.3m
Oasis, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? 4.9m
Michael Jackson, Thriller 4.5m
Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon 4.5m
Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms 4.4m
Michael Jackson, Bad 4.1m
Queen, Greatest Hits II 4m
Border farce
The Scottish government paused its Ukrainian visa sponsorship programme because it couldn’t cope with demand. Some 700 refugees are to be housed in a disused cruise ship. Where in the UK has taken the most Ukrainian refugees?
Sponsorship scheme arrivals:
Total / Per 100,000 pop.
England: 53,997 / 95
Scotland: 8,234 / 151
Wales: 3,976 / 125
N. Ireland: 335 / 18
Source: Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Fuel to the fire
Wildfires in Spain produced 1.3m tonnes of carbon emissions in June-July, according to the EU’s atmosphere monitoring service. Average hectares of vegetation and forests burned from wildfires in Spain per decade:
1960s 52,054
1970s 169,053
1980s 238,789
1990s 159,875
2000s 105,047
2010s 96,593
Source: Spanish Ministry of Environment
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