UK - 2018 was a year of breaking records. The best weather for decades, the most ice cream sales and the most funding Carpigiani have ever released for ice cream businesses. Read our Ice Cream News January 2019.

With 2019 long-term weather forecasts predicting another great Summer, we look forward to another great year for the soft serve, gelato and dessert industry.

We take a look at the news relating to the industry

HOT WEATHER WARNING: 2019 could be the hottest on record, says Met Office

The heatwave which gripped much of Britain during 2018 is just the first instalment, with global temperatures tipped to approach record-breaking levels this year, the Met Office has warned. Reported in the Express.

The highs will be the result of climate change caused by rising levels of greenhouse gases from human activity as well as modest warming from the El Nino weather phenomenon in the Pacific, which pushes up temperatures.

Forecasts issued by the Met Office at the end of 2017 for global temperatures this year were closely in line with what has been seen in 2018.

The forecasters predicted around 1C of warming, and estimates for January to October are showing temperatures around 0.96C above pre-industrial levels.

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Tourist is charged £22 for an ICE CREAM in Florence – and the shop is fined £1,800 after police are called

A tourist was charged £22 for an ice cream in Florence – only for the shop to be fined £1,800 when police were called, report The Mail.

The Taiwanese holidaymaker complained about the price of his cone but was told the ice creams ‘cost a lot because they are tasty’.

He ended up paying for his 25 euro ice cream, but his Italian tour guide then called police.

Officers found that the shop had concealed its price list behind the counter and imposed a fine of 2,000 euros (£1,800).

Police official Elio Covino, told La Repubblica: ‘Hiding prices is very common and is a habit that creates a poor impression around the world, given that tourists are the main victims.’

It is not the first time tourists have complained of exorbitant costs in Italian tourist hotspots.

In August, a furious customer slammed a cafe for charging him €43 (£38) for two cups of coffee and two bottles of water.

Juan Carlos Bustamente, 62, was shocked when he got the bill at Caffe Lavena in St Mark’s Square, Venice.

He was charged the equivalent of £10.30 for each cup of coffee and £8.90 for each 25cl bottle of water.

In January 2017, a Venice restaurant charged tourists £1,000 for four steaks and a plate of fish.

The outraged Japanese diners – students from the University of Bologna – said they ordered three steaks and fried fish at an eatery also near St Mark’s Square.

With only glasses of water to accompany their modest meal, the group was left shocked by their €1,145 bill on Friday.

In 2013, a British family complained over being charged £13.50 each for three ice creams in Rome.

The Antica Roma gelataria charged brothers Roger and Stephen Bannister and their wives the sum when they stopped at the outlet near the city’s famous Spanish Steps.

Read our full January 2019 Ice Cream News here: www.carpigiani.co.uk/ice-cream-news-january-2019/