Down here in the cooler SW where in the last week it’s been anything but… on the Lizard this afternoon the temperature reached 26c! A mile inland it was 30c with little or no breeze. The night time temperatures have only dipped to 17c as a minimum.

Walking into the sea does not have that cold sting you would expect. It’s warm and swimming is now an enjoyable experience without wearing rubber!!!

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The only good news really is that we're losing 3 and a bit minutes of daylight a day, so it gets increasingly harder to sustain the really unpleasant temperatures for very long. Several days with dewpoints in the high teens / low 20s is utterly sapping! And to think, it used to be 17 or 18C DPs that were as high as you would see... it's as if we've all moved a few hundred miles south.

I wouldn't mind as much if it was followed by a 1995/6-style cold spell at Christmas (the last widespread White Christmas in the SE of England with snow falling and settling was 1970), but there are two downsides to that thought: one, it's clearly not going to happen, as it never does and two, if by some fluke it did happen, although I'd be dancing with happiness I know most people would be the exact opposite, for a variety of reasons.

I do wonder, though, whether given the atmopshere's tendancy to get "stuck in a rut", how many more plumes we'll manage to import before it finally becomes cold from the mainland of Europe, as opposed to hot...

True, but some of the warmest, most despicably humid nights of the year often occur in September (locally at least) so we are not really out of the woods until about October I think.

I really believe and I am more convinced by the day that a pattern shift occurred back in July 2021. That blasted Azores high has barely shifted since and any time it try to dissolve away, it just kept respawning with disturbing ease. The patter we seen this summer is exactly that which we endured not only during the near entirety of last winter, but last autumn and summer as well. I ask, how long more can this God forsaken pattern last?? 

 

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Looks like the maxima were below forecast again, around 33 seems to be the highest today.

Charlwood at least made 34C. Maybe Ross on Wye and Cavendish as well, both had hourly maxes of at least 33.5C

Down here in the cooler SW where in the last week it’s been anything but… on the Lizard this afternoon the temperature reached 26c! A mile inland it was 30c with little or no breeze. The night time temperatures have only dipped to 17c as a minimum.

Walking into the sea does not have that cold sting you would expect. It’s warm and swimming is now an enjoyable experience without wearing rubber!!!

Yes I was at Holland on Sea yesterday North Essex coast. And the sea was as warm as i can ever remember an English sea. But still refreshing to get into from the hot beach.

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As far as BBC forecasts were concerned, this spell was slightly overestimated in terms of temperature. You might have expected some of the UK date records to fall over the last few days but none have. Impressive spell nonetheless but we were spoilt in July! 

 

Take it from me, a “nice warm sea” loses its appeal when the sea temperature is 30C. Not pleasant. I love swimming in the sea but my favourite swim of the holiday by far was in a spring-fed river in the Corsican mountains that was properly cold. There’s no point in swimming unless it’s at least a bit of a shock when you go in. 

I have to say I’ve never understood the “not cold enough to be refreshing” argument. The sea can never be too warm as far as I’m concerned!

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Yes I was at Holland on Sea yesterday North Essex coast. And the sea was as warm as i can ever remember an English sea. But still refreshing to get into from the hot beach.

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Official SSTs are over 20C on the Essex coast. Add a bit of heat from the beach in shallow waters with the tides and you're probably experiencing 22C which used to be typical in the South of France this time of year 

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Official SSTs are over 20C on the Essex coast. Add a bit of heat from the beach in shallow waters with the tides and you're probably experiencing 22C which used to be typical in the South of France this time of year 

Not bad for the UK. 

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I have to say I’ve never understood the “not cold enough to be refreshing” argument. The sea can never be too warm as far as I’m concerned!

Believe me, it can. At a certain air temperature you really need the water to cool you down. Sea that’s the same temperature as the air really doesn’t. 

Most of us grew up in a climate where the waters around the coast were always borderline too cold to swim in, so of course we crave warmer water. But like most things there is a tipping point. Corsica this year was the tipping point for me. Like a tepid bath. Not nice.

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I guess it’s personal preference (like many things in the weather!). I was swimming in the Caribbean 3 weeks ago and the water temperature was about 30°C and it was lovely.

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Cambridge NIAB already 30.5c so that's 8 30c days in a row.

 

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Coningsby 32.1 max but that seems dubious as the highest hourly reading was 29.8C. 

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Take it from me, a “nice warm sea” loses its appeal when the sea temperature is 30C. Not pleasant. I love swimming in the sea but my favourite swim of the holiday by far was in a spring-fed river in the Corsican mountains that was properly cold. There’s no point in swimming unless it’s at least a bit of a shock when you go in. 

  Yes, I’ve swam in cold mountain pools and Cenotes in Mexico. Definitely refreshing.  But I love the Caribbean Sea!  That’s my ‘nice warm’.  

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I guess it’s personal preference (like many things in the weather!). I was swimming in the Caribbean 3 weeks ago and the water temperature was about 30°C and it was lovely.

 

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In this current heatwave I recorded 5 days at 30c or above in a row, which I am not sure I have ever seen before. Made me think , were any local stations broken for the number of 30c days in a row (would likely be in the North)?

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27C in a few places today, possibly a 28C. The post heatwave cool-down continues to be pretty warm.

How many more 30s this year? Per the ensembles it could be anywhere between zero and 6 or 7.

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I guess it’s personal preference (like many things in the weather!). I was swimming in the Caribbean 3 weeks ago and the water temperature was about 30°C and it was lovely.

Great Whites also love those sea temperatures. Something to keep in the back of your mind the next time you go for a dip! 

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Out of curiosity in the rankings of the hot UK summers I have collected together the data where I can (the full daily data for 1976 for the entire summer seems impossible to find, so I have only got the 30C+ days there).

For info, listed as year, followed by days above 25C, 28C, 29C, 30C, 32C and 35C in the three summer months.

1976: ?, ?, ?, 17, 15, 5
1995: 61, 40, 31, 27, 12, 1
2018: 59, 33, 27, 24, 6, 2
2022: 38, 24, 17, 11, 5, 2 (up to 9 August).

1995 is still the daddy as far as I am concerned, with a whopping 27 days above 30C, and 40 above 28C. However when talking extreme heat duration (above 35C), 1976 is the champ for now.

After the coming week, I think 2022 is likely to take the "extreme heat" crown from 1976, but 1995 is still the overall summer to rule them all. Shame about the cruddy start to June though - 8 days in the first half of June 95 failed to even reach 20C!

2022 to 19th August: 48, 31, 24, 17, 10, 2/3 (unclear if Charlwood made it to 35C on the 13th). Going to fall just short of the very best summers but still right up there.

Originally Posted by: Rob K

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This morning’s GFS run gives us 3 more days above 30C this week, and one above 32C. Some ensemble members give more.

What’s the latest score for 2022?

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