Highest Temperature - 58C Al'Aziziyah Libya 13th Sept, 1922

Coldest Temperature - -89.6C (-129f) Vostok Station, Antartica 21st July 1983

Driest Place - Quillagua, Atacama Desert, Chile 0.02in/yr

Wettest Place - Mawsynram just ahead of Cherrapunjee (both located in Meghalaya State, Northern India) *Mt. Wai-ale-ale in Hawaii has self-styled itself the planet's wettest spot, but it falls just short of Mawsynram.

Sunniest Place - Yuma, Arizona (Guiness Records) or according to Nasa, Northern Niger, Sahara Desert and an area of the Pacific Ocean just south of Hawaii.

Largest Hailstone - Measuring 7 inches in diameter (17.8 cm) and 18.75 inches (47.6 cm) fell in a storm over Aurora, Nebraska June 22, 2003

Fastest Surface Wind - 231mph Mt. Washington, New Hampshire, 12th April 1934.

The Great Storm of 1987 caused

Great Britain endures an annual Tornado count of around 70. They are virtually always much less significant than the twisters associated with USA, but nevertheless do occasionally cause damage, injury or deaths as with the Birmingham tornado in 2005.