[Ian Williams]

Quote

BUTTERFLY - 8/2/2011 23:46 "When will we see such temps again? Since 2006 I think the highest temperature in Britain has been a paltry 32-33C (no doubt someone here can tell me exactly)". The warmest in Britain since 2006 (as far as I am aware) has been 31.8 deg. C. at Wisley, Surrey, on 30th June 2009 - see http://www.metoffice.../2009/june.html I have no doubt that temperatures above 35 deg. will occur again, though the question is when. They were never that common; http://www.personal....ottest_days.htm only shows 12 in the 111 years from 1900 to 2010; (1900, 1906, 1911, 1923, 1932, 1948, 1957, 1976, 1990, 1995, 2003 & 2006). The longest spell of years without such a day is 18 from 1958 to 1975 inclusive. The Median maximum annual temperature is slightly over 32.2 deg. C. or 90 deg. F., this having been recorded in 44 years out of 111 up to 2010. Incidentlaly I wouldn't describe 32-33 deg. C. being "paltry" - not coming from Northern Ireland where the record is only 30.8 deg. C. (on 30th June 1976 and 12th July 19830 - Scotland's record is 32.9 deg. C. on 9th August 2003.)

Super post Ian! Just like Cornwall too, max temp 2003 heatwave  30.3C, however the sun is purer and imo stronger here. The highest temp ever  recorded in Plymouth would  you believe since 1961 is 31.8C and that was the end  of June 1976!!! That said the  SW of England are prone to some very mild minimum temps both in summer and winter

[scrapemedic]

My recollection of that weekend are that i worked Thursday through Sunday on 12 hour day shifts; the first three out of Hayes Ambulance station and the Sunday out of Twickenham. I didn't have air conditioning at the time and my flat is a sun trap on a good year, that year with no wind, and that was the most notable thing for me, no air moving through the flat, it remained in the 30 somethings til past two in the morning.
So here's the thing, its hot, I am working doing a very physical job, more so that weekend as alot of the patients were elderly types who hadn't drunk enough tea and had gotten dehydrated and collapsed, some breaking bones as they went. So there was alot of lifting and carrying. The vehicles we have back then were the old Leyland Daf Vans with little or, often than not, no air-conditioning in the cab and twice as bad in the back; one enterprising young medic measured the temp in the cab of his vehicle and found it wanting, it was 44 degrees C.
Thursday and Friday were bad enough, but by saturday, having had little sleep because of the temp in my flat and already having worked 24 hours plus in those two days, I was pretty exhausted. On the saturday I drank about five litres of water in the twelve hours at work, i didn't pee til five in the afternoon! Some of the hospitals were being pretty sensible and handing out bottles of water to anyone walking in through the doors, others struggled to find a drinking water tap within easy reach of the emergency department. (Hillingondon Hospital was the star of the weekend with a plentiful supply of water).
So come sunday, the hottest day, the crews who had been working were about done. the usual uniform of a white T-shirt and green cotton short sleeve got reduced to either just the green shirt or some stations opted for the T with the arms cut off. That was the closest we ever got to a dress down day at work. I stuck with the shirt, but by the end of the day it was green and white from the sweaty salt stains on the back. Drinking water was no longer enough, each time I got to Kingston hospital, poorly supplied with acceptable drinking water, I took to throwing it over my back instead. It was whilst taking a short break at Kingston that I saw the first little white cloud way up in the north west; just one, all on its own, but the first sign of any change in the weather. Finishing my shift at Twickenham, I drove homeward and it was as I crossed the roundabout at Stockley Park that I felt the first breeze pass thorugh the open windows of my AC-less car.
By the time I got home, I was too tired to go out to the pub, and having eventually fallen asleep, ever hopeful that i might be woken up by a storm, I slept into late monday morning, the sleep of the righteous.

[BUTTERFLY]

I remember during the heatwave of early August 2003 when on holiday in the Burren, Co. Clare, in western Ireland, that soaking my tee shirt with water was a good way of keeping cool. I dont think I have had to do this since (the heatwave of July 2006 was of course comparable but I wasn't on holiday during that time).

[Foxy2]

One of the best spells of summer weather here too. I was clearing the site around the house for an extension and was getting up very early with a mini digger on hire. I have a memory that on the morning of one of these hot August days the BBC weather forcaster reported a record of a ground frost in Cardiff. Any body able to check that out?

August 2003 in central parts of the SW Peninsular (thats as far from the sea as its possible to get) saw a mean monthly temp of 18.0C (cooler than July 2006 which was 18.56C). But, these are the two warmest months in recent years. Here at 240msl, max temp in August 2003 was 30.3C on the 5th with 9 days exceeding 25C and 24 days exceeding 20C. Warmest minimum was 18.0C on the 11th August - which remains my warmest recorded minimum. The hottest day recorded here since my records began in 2003 is 31.5C on 19th July 2006. My garden is just a little sheltered though.

[Nigel Bolton]

Herstie Teph HERE, from midnight 10/08/03, i.e. midnight before the hottest day.

Note how subsided, hot and dry the lower levels of the atmosphere are. TT1000-500 at 574Dam not to be sniffed at, though I believe 576Dam just attained in Jersey on same date, and on Aug 3rd 1990.

These types of thickness, plus max solar radiation and lapse rates measures in the dry summer of 1976, could realise a top temp of 41-42C here in the UK, IF all the necessary parameters came together.

N

[BUTTERFLY]

I dont know about ground frost in Cardiff during the hot spell in August 2003, although http://www.met.rdg.a...y2003.html#0308 shows that 0 deg. C. was recorded at Shap, Cumbria, on 30th and 31st, 1 deg. C. at Tulloch Bridge, Scotland, on 16th and Shap, Cumbria, on 27th; 2 deg. C. at Katesbridge, Co. Down, on 15th, Tyndrum, Scotland, on 23rd & Kinbrace, Scotland, on 25th & 28th, & 3 deg. C . on 3rd at Sennybridge, Wales, and Katesbridge on 14th August. these are no doubt to the nearest 1 deg. C. On some but not all of these days high temperatures (27-30 deg. C.) were recorded somewhere in the British Isles. The spell of hottest weather was from 3rd to 12th with 30 deg. C. reached or exceeded each day (27 deg. C. was exceeded each day from 2nd to 14th inclusive). 27 deg. C. was also reached or exceeded from 17th to 18th and from 22nd to 24th, and also on 27th (at Jersey). Only 3rd, 14th, 23rd and 27th come within this period.

[Dave K]

As far as calendar months go, July 2006 was actually just a little hotter here than August 2003, not too surprising given that the end of August can cool quite drastically sometimes, especially the minima. The absolute max here in July 2006 was 36.1 °C - a very notable month though overshadowed by Aug 2003.

	Average Daily		(Min+Max)/2
	Min °C	Max °C	Mean °C
August 2003	15.7	26.0	20.9
July 2006	15.3	27.2	21.3

[00ctober]

Here, there was a massive contrast between August 2003 and July 2006. July '06 had about 100hrs more sunshine and the average max was about 3.5-4C higher. On the famous day itself, August 10th 2003, we had thunderstorms and a max in the low 20's.

Overall though August 2003 was a great summery month, miles better than anything since July '06.

[Foxy2]

Quote

Nigel Bolton - 10/2/2011 15:10

Herstie Teph HERE, from midnight 10/08/03, i.e. midnight before the hottest day.

Note how subsided, hot and dry the lower levels of the atmosphere are. TT1000-500 at 574Dam not to be sniffed at, though I believe 576Dam just attained in Jersey on same date, and on Aug 3rd 1990.

These types of thickness, plus max solar radiation and lapse rates measures in the dry summer of 1976, could realise a top temp of 41-42C here in the UK, IF all the necessary parameters came together.

N

Surely just a matter of time! [hehe]

I would love to know what maximum temperature could get to in these sheltered Devon valleys.

[BUTTERFLY]

There were a few relatively low temperatures also in mid-July 2006, just at the beginning of the hot spell, though not as low or as frequent as in August 2003; http://www.met.rdg.a...006.html#200607 shows 0 deg. C. at Tulloch Bridge on 14th & 1 deg. C. at Katesbridge on 13th and at Altnaharra on 15th (on the hottest day was on 19th when Wisley in Surrey reached 36.5 deg. C ., it fell to 7 deg. C. at Fife Ness in Scotland. The prolonged dry weather as well as the clear nights contributed to these low temperatures; June and much of July 2006 was relatively dry, while August 2003 had only 0.7 mm of rain at Royston in Hertfordshire (see http://www.climate-u...onthly/0308.htm) while no rain at all was recorded at a site in Co. Laois in S.E. Ireland. June & July 2003, though warm, were not especially dry so the summer as a whole was not especially dry.

[summer '85]

Countryfile forecast from 3rd August 2003



4th August 2003 forecast

[Ben Taylor]

The hottest day here during that summer was Aug 5th with a maximum of 31.7C. The 9th reached 29.8C but during the UK record day of the 10th it was a cool 17.7C marking the end of the heatwave; temps never got above 25C after that.

The record breaker here was 19th July 2006 with a SE'rly Foehn effect boosting temps up to 34.9C and RH down to 48%, the 18th was hot too with 32.6C RH 56%

[PK2]

Ben Taylor, on 16 February 2012 - 15:07, said:

The hottest day here during that summer was Aug 5th with a maximum of 31.7C. The 9th reached 29.8C but during the UK record day of the 10th it was a cool 17.7C marking the end of the heatwave; temps never got above 25C after that.

The record breaker here was 19th July 2006 with a SE'rly Foehn effect boosting temps up to 34.9C and RH down to 48%, the 18th was hot too with 32.6C RH 56%

I just remember being in cool (relatively speaking) sea fog most of that period until I came inland or up the hills slightly.

[summer '85]

Forecasts for the 5th and 6th August 2003

[summer '85]

Another download

[HSEA2]

summer, on 17 February 2012 - 09:30, said:

Another download

http://youtu.be/RhE_kIOyz4A

Ha, i think i recorded one of the local forecasts on the VHS too...must be collecting dust somewhere. That event prompted me to join this site.

[summer '85]

BBC News coverage of the 10th August 2003 record

[Summertumn1]

Some very unintelligent coverage there by the BBC... struggling to work out the difference between weather and climate. And how strange that since then we've only had 1 further truly hot summer, in 2006

[summer '85]

Here's the last of my downloads of this heatwave and this from the 11th August 2003

[Ed.]

Remember the day well - not least by having a wee hangover from the night before LOL! (impromptu works do..) all paid for btw, inc overnight hotel digs in B'ham, hasent to add which didn't happen all too often

Already felt incredibly hot in the morning, even by 8am it was not akin to a mid-Summers day, but during a mini-heatwave..dependent on your POV towards hot wx, better/worse? was yet to come.. my general feeling of yuk and de-hydration wasen't helped by the ever present blazing sun and whilst tuning into breakie TV, forecasts were generally pointing towards the mid/high 30C category..do believe Cheltenham/Pershore and some other Central parts also climbed into the silly temp bracket.

Heading into the a'noon, the heat felt more like the kind of temps only ever experienced previously, whilst abroad - it was indeed fierce and some quite menacing looking Cu also bubbled up throughout the day, although not really amounting to much.Rest as they say is history.

As for the next similar type scenario? of course very, very difficult to say - if i knew that i'd be festooned on my own private island, waited on hand and foot, not least with all the very latest wx gizmos and gadgets money can buy..blimey perhaps then i'll have more chance of getting nearer to that prediction! a hot/very hot-spell if not Summer cannot be far away, and even for the remainder of this year a more notable hot-spell imo is possible if not probable! parts of the mainland have had their fair share of heat, Balkan regions have had record heat for months upon end - all that's now required is a subtle switch in wx patterns and Bob may indeed be your Uncle?

We've been pretty close (this year in fact) to a southerly plume type set-up and when the likes of N Africa/ and Iberia generally had temps well into the 40C category...our Summer taster was of course prematurely ended by a rather dominant jet-stream, indeed not once but several times now.Eventually the main culprit shall decide to venture off to pastures new..i did say eventually didn't i

This post has been edited by Ed.: 10 August 2012 - 09:22