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On 10 August 2003, Gravesend recorded one of the highest temperatures since records began in the United Kingdom, with a reading of 38.1 degrees Celsius (100.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Gravesend which is a Met Office site reports its data each hour.
One explanation for the phenomenon was the large amount of earthworks in connection with High Speed 1, which had exposed a great deal of the local sandy soil, which absorbed more sunshine.
Gravesend as a rule inherits a more continental climate like the rest of Kent, Essex and East Anglia rather than the usual maritime oceanic climate the West of the UK experiences. It is therefore less cloudy, drier, and less prone to Atlantic depressions with their associated wind and rain than more westerly locations of the UK.
Gravesend and the surrounding area is relatively dry, especially in comparison to much of the UK, due to rainfall being light and patchy by the time it reaches the region. Heavy rain usually comes up from France.
In the winter, snow is not uncommon and like much of the area, it will inherit more of the continental winters, tempered slightly by the Jet Stream and the coastal location.
Gravesend continues to record high temperatures in summer, sometimes reaching country-wide records, recently including the warmest day of 2011, when temperatures reached 32.8 degrees. Additionally, the town holds at least two records for the year in 2010 of 30.9 degrees and 31.7 degrees. Another record was set in October 2011 with 29.9 degrees.
The Kent Downs lie to the south of Gravesend, although it is not known if this causes Gravesend to experience the effects of Foehn Winds that occur as a result of adiabatic warming. This foehn effect seems most likely to occur during a southerly wind flow because of the location of the hills in relation to the town, and indeed it is during times of southerly winds that high temperatures would normally occur anyhow.
From Wikipedia