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I'm on the Swanscombe peninsula, a few miles east of London,

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on the south bank of the Thames.

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And this is notable for a couple of reasons

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I mean, it just looks like a desolate brownfield site

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and I guess it is.

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But it's also the warmest point in the UK.

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Officially. Seriously. I mean, not right now; it's the middle of December,

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but all the record temperatures that have ever been recorded in the UK,

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the famous 38°C, 101°F,

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that was once recorded came from that weather station behind me.

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It's an official Met Office weather station.

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If you have a look online,

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you'll see that meteorologists are having a bit of a debate about it.

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Weather stations like that,

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the official ones, behind a Stevenson screen, as they're called,

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are meant to filter out any kind of external influence.

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They're not meant to be in the middle of a microclimate

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for proper temperature records.

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Well, there's some debate that this is.

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It's surrounded by earth on three sides,

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there's industrial activity, docks, and a sewage plant,

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all of which could raise the temperature.

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And, well, there's a Port of London Authority radar next to it,

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and if you believe the conspiracy theorists online,

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and say "They've caught the Met Office in a lie,

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that radar could be warming up the sensors"

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Obviously, it's not, but, nevertheless

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there's some question as to whether this is actually the warmest site

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in Gravesend, as it's known.

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Or, whether they've just put the weather station in a slightly wrong place.

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But there's something more important about this site.

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This whole area, this whole peninsula,

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it doesn't look big on a map

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but I've just spent a muddy mile and a bit walking here, and

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yeah... it's big, because this will be the site,

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if all goes well, of the coming Paramount London theme park,

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the one that, this week, announced it's signed a deal with the BBC

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in order to license Top Gear, Doctor Who,

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and a load of other TV shows.

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So, in 5-6 years' time,

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I might be walking down here on a nicely paved path,

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with people screaming as they ride rollercoasters

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and laughing as they have a go on the TARDIS.

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It's going to be quite different in 5 or 6 years' time

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if it all goes well, and this weather station

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will probably have to be moved.

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So, if the temperature in London seems to drop officially in a few years' time,

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perhaps it has,

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or, more likely, perhaps they've moved this weather station

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to make way for The Doctor.

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