Summary:
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Met Office data shows that the hottest day ever was in 2022.
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During the July heat wave, 56 of the 109 longest-standing stations recorded new all-time highs.
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Only one in every five of the UK’s oldest meteorological stations has a temperature record set before 2000.All of the remaining 80% were created in the previous 20 years.
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A negligible 0.2C broke the record at Armagh station in Northern Ireland, yet it stood for the most extended period in the UK at 146 years.
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The annual hottest day has exceeded 35C seven times since 2000.
New evidence shows that climate change has a significant effect on the UK two months after the summer heatwave.
Met Office data shows that the hottest day ever was in 2022. This was the case in over half of the UK’s oldest weather stations.
During the heat wave in July, 56 of the 109 stations that have been around the longest set new all-time highs.
One town in west Yorkshire beat its old record by a stunning 6.3C.
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Learn from Covid to stop climate change, say the Lords
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Twelve thousand newly planted trees perished due to the heat wave.
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The UK’s summer heatwave saw a record number of deaths.
The analysis’s scientists at the Met Office referred to this summer’s high heat as a “true sign of how our climate is changing.”
According to the Met Office, temperatures would have “rarely” reached 40C (104F) without anthropogenic climate change.
The information comes from working weather stations all over the UK that have kept records for at least 50 years.
Small margins often break records, but this summer’s record-breaking long-functioning stations did it on average by more than 2C.
Coningsby in Lincolnshire, where the new UK high of 40.3C was registered on July 19, 2022.
The previous record was set at the Cambridge Botanical Gardens in the summer of 2019 and was 1.6C lower than this.
14 of the 109 sites with long reporting records beat the 2019 record, but Coningsby isn’t one of them because it doesn’t have at least 50 years of data.
Dr Mark McCarthy, in charge of the Met Office National Climate Information Centre, said that this heatwave was especially notable because of how far north it was hot and how many records it broke.
The temperature at Bramham, in West Yorkshire, rose by more than 6C from its previous high of 33.5C, which was the most.
Several stations in Yorkshire, the North East, and the North West also broke their previous records significantly.
Whitby in Yorkshire broke its old record by 4.8C, and Kielder Castle in Northumberland exceeded its old high set 40 years earlier by more than 5C.
New records were about four degrees higher at measurement locations in Bradford, Durham, and Sheffield.
All set new records
While some areas of England had the highest temperatures, England, Scotland, and Wales all set new records during the summer heatwave.
The high temperatures this summer broke a lot of records, some of which had stood for decades at stations in all four countries. These were set at stations with fewer than 50 years of data and are not included in this analysis.
Only one in every five of the UK’s oldest meteorological stations has a temperature record set before 2000.
All of the remaining 80% were created in the previous 20 years.
Leuchars station in Fife was the most northern of the long-running stations that set a record in 2022. It exceeded the previous high by 0.5C, which was established in 1990.
At Gogerddan, close to Aberystwyth, Wales’ previous national record of 35.2C was broken for the first time. This record has lasted for more than 30 years.
A negligible 0.2C broke the record at Armagh station in Northern Ireland, yet it stood for the most extended period in the UK at 146 years.
Several stations in Yorkshire, the North East, and the North West also broke their previous records significantly.
Whitby in Yorkshire broke its old record by 4.8C, and Kielder Castle in Northumberland exceeded its old high set 40 years earlier by more than 5C.
New records were about four degrees higher at measurement locations in Bradford, Durham, and Sheffield.
While some areas of England had the highest temperatures, England, Scotland, and Wales all set new records during the summer heatwave.
High temperatures broke records
The high temperatures this summer broke a lot of records, some of which had stood for decades at stations in all four countries. These were set at stations with fewer than 50 years of data and are not included in this analysis.
Only one in every five of the UK’s oldest meteorological stations has a temperature record set before 2000.
All of the remaining 80% were created in the previous 20 years.
Leuchars station in Fife was the most northern of the long-running stations that set a record in 2022. It exceeded the previous high by 0.5C, which was established in 1990.
At Gogerddan, close to Aberystwyth, Wales’ previous national record of 35.2C was broken for the first time. This record has lasted for more than 30 years.
A negligible 0.2C broke the record at Armagh station in Northern Ireland, yet it stood for the most extended period in the UK at 146 years.
Heatwaves are becoming increasingly frequent and severe in the UK due to climate change
The annual hottest day has exceeded 35C seven times since 2000. Only five times in the 90 years before that had this occurred.
Additionally, temperatures in the UK have been breaking records more frequently lately.
The record set in 1911, 36.7C, remained for 79 years, but succeeding forms only lasted a little under 20. A document that had stood for just three years was broken in 2022 by the heatwave.
As Dr McCarthy told the BBC, “the first recording of over 40C in the UK was a milestone occasion and a true sign of how our climate is changing.”
He continued, “In parts of the UK, the repercussions of this kind of heat have become clear, with transportation disruptions, wildfires, and health concerns affecting the people.”
In the last several months, temperature records have been broken throughout Europe, not only in the UK.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service says that the summer of 2022 was the hottest ever recorded in Europe. This was because of a prolonged drought that may have been the worst in 500 years and a string of sweltering days.
In July, temperatures in Portugal reached 47C, the highest ever for that month. In France, record-high temperatures were achieved in 64 separate regions.
Thousands of people were forced to leave their homes due to deadly wildfires in France, Portugal, Spain, and Greece.
On average, the summer was 0.4C warmer than the previous record, which was just established last year.
Analysis by: Advocacy Unified Network
