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I don't have all the statistics for my location, but May 10th 2011 had a big one I remember: high was 24.4C and the nighttime low 3.9C, the difference being 20.5C.
In 2009 there was even a bit more impressive day, 24.5C/3.1C on May 30th 2009, making a 21.4C diurnal difference.
During winter, the highest difference I noticed looking briefly was on Jan 29th 2007: -2.5C/-22.2C, a difference of 19.7C
Nationwide record is:
Kuusamo, Jan 2 1989: 1.2C/-35.3C (36.5C)
During spring:
Oulainen, May 15 1992: 25.2C/-1.9C (27.1C)
summer:
Lammi, July 7 1989: 28.5C/2.6C (25.9C)
autumn:
Ranua, Oct 25 1968: -5.9C/-30C (24.1C) (Dubious, as it's technically almost winter there at that time.)
In Lapland, winter is usually the best time to get high diurnal changes, as warm weather pushes in from the west replacing very cold weather. The daily high can actually be in the middle of the night.
Here at the southwest coast, where we don't get that extreme lows, spring is your best bet. Usually after a couple rainy days, when a high pressure from the south arrives with abundant sunshine and clear nights.
In summer, the opposite. Warm weather is suddenly replaced with a northern cold front, arriving at night. This is though very rare.
I had a 40°F morning and a 90°F afternoon in early April a few years back. So, 27.8°C range. May have been a bigger one some other time. Spring is usually the best time to get big diurnal ranges.
I don't have specific details to hand but from when I've looked at data before the biggest diurnal range Hampstead has seen was about 17-18C (mid-20s C by day, 7-8C by night one time in May). Hampstead's problem with diurnal ranges is that it doesn't naturally get cold nights with being on a hill. Today had a diurnal range of 9.9C at the official Hampstead site and 11C at the unofficial site down the hill (which almost always gives higher diurnal ranges than the official one), which makes it the first diurnal range above 10C recorded there for more than four months.
On 16th February 2003 Altnaharra had a high of 9C and a low of -9C, not that abnormal a diurnal range for that area being a frost hollow, but the only example I can remember of the same place being both the warmest and coldest place in Britain on the same day.
Nice rarely gets diurnal ranges bigger than 12°C, and when it does, it is usually thanks to a foehn effect.
A few from 2012:
July 13: 21.4/35.2°C (13.8°C)
Jan 20: 4.9/22.5°C (17.6°C) - that day has to be among those with the widest temp differences in history, considering it is one of the warmest ever winter days, yet with a below average minimum temp.
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