diff --git a/docs/src/whatsnew/latest.rst b/docs/src/whatsnew/3.9.rst
similarity index 88%
rename from docs/src/whatsnew/latest.rst
rename to docs/src/whatsnew/3.9.rst
index 98bcf93573..9f5ad90fef 100644
--- a/docs/src/whatsnew/latest.rst
+++ b/docs/src/whatsnew/3.9.rst
@@ -1,21 +1,26 @@
 .. include:: ../common_links.inc
 
-|iris_version| |build_date| [unreleased]
-****************************************
+v3.9 (03 Apr 2024) [release candidate]
+**************************************
 
 This document explains the changes made to Iris for this release
 (:doc:`View all changes <index>`.)
 
 
-.. dropdown:: |iris_version| Release Highlights
+.. dropdown:: v3.9 Release Highlights
    :color: primary
    :icon: info
    :animate: fade-in
    :open:
 
-   The highlights for this major/minor release of Iris include:
+   This is a small release to make two important changes available as soon as
+   possible:
 
-   * N/A
+   * The :mod:`iris.experimental.geovista` module.
+   * Removal of fill value collision warnings in NetCDF saving, which
+     significantly improves Iris' performance when parallel processing.
+
+   See below for more detail on these changes.
 
    And finally, get in touch with us on :issue:`GitHub<new/choose>` if you have
    any issues or feature requests for improving Iris. Enjoy!
diff --git a/docs/src/whatsnew/index.rst b/docs/src/whatsnew/index.rst
index 23cd022f52..e32b0faff7 100644
--- a/docs/src/whatsnew/index.rst
+++ b/docs/src/whatsnew/index.rst
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+
 .. include:: ../common_links.inc
 
 .. _iris_whatsnew:
@@ -5,13 +6,13 @@
 What's New in Iris
 ------------------
 
-.. include:: latest.rst
+.. include:: 3.9.rst
 
 .. toctree::
    :maxdepth: 1
    :hidden:
 
-   latest.rst
+   3.9.rst
    3.8.rst
    3.7.rst
    3.6.rst
diff --git a/docs/src/whatsnew/latest.rst.template b/docs/src/whatsnew/latest.rst.template
deleted file mode 100644
index 966a91e976..0000000000
--- a/docs/src/whatsnew/latest.rst.template
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,107 +0,0 @@
-.. include:: ../common_links.inc
-
-|iris_version| |build_date| [unreleased]
-****************************************
-
-This document explains the changes made to Iris for this release
-(:doc:`View all changes <index>`.)
-
-
-.. dropdown:: |iris_version| Release Highlights
-   :color: primary
-   :icon: info
-   :animate: fade-in
-   :open:
-
-   The highlights for this major/minor release of Iris include:
-
-   * N/A
-
-   And finally, get in touch with us on :issue:`GitHub<new/choose>` if you have
-   any issues or feature requests for improving Iris. Enjoy!
-
-
-NOTE: section BELOW is a template for bugfix patches
-====================================================
-    (Please remove this section when creating an initial 'latest.rst'
-
-|iris_version| |build_date|
-===========================
-
-.. dropdown:: |iris_version| Patches
-   :color: primary
-   :icon: alert
-   :animate: fade-in
-
-   The patches in this release of Iris include:
-
-   #. N/A
-
-NOTE: section ABOVE is a template for bugfix patches
-====================================================
-    (Please remove this section when creating an initial 'latest.rst')
-
-
-📢 Announcements
-================
-
-#. N/A
-
-
-✨ Features
-===========
-
-#. N/A
-
-
-🐛 Bugs Fixed
-=============
-
-#. N/A
-
-
-💣 Incompatible Changes
-=======================
-
-#. N/A
-
-
-🚀 Performance Enhancements
-===========================
-
-#. N/A
-
-
-🔥 Deprecations
-===============
-
-#. N/A
-
-
-🔗 Dependencies
-===============
-
-#. N/A
-
-
-📚 Documentation
-================
-
-#. N/A
-
-
-💼 Internal
-===========
-
-#. N/A
-
-
-.. comment
-    Whatsnew author names (@github name) in alphabetical order. Note that,
-    core dev names are automatically included by the common_links.inc:
-
-
-
-
-.. comment
-    Whatsnew resources in alphabetical order: