{"id":6281,"date":"2026-05-26T17:20:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T17:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timjoslin.org\/?p=6281"},"modified":"2026-05-26T17:24:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T17:24:41","slug":"maybe-may-be-too-darn-hot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timjoslin.org\/index.php\/2026\/05\/26\/maybe-may-be-too-darn-hot\/","title":{"rendered":"Maybe May Be Too Darn Hot!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The May 2026 UK (and west of Europe) heatwave is notable in itself, with temperatures occurring in London – technically still in spring – hotter than any recorded up to a month later in the year. This should spur action to be prepared, in London, for example, for even higher temperatures during heatwaves in the summer months. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

34.8C on 25th May 2026!<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is starting to get a little bit silly. We have yet another heatwave here in London, with a new and quite astonishing date record<\/em> for the UK – that is, the hottest so early in the year (see, for example, the start of my previous post on the topic<\/a> for an explanation of the terminology) in this case of 34.8C at Kew Gardens yesterday, Monday 25th May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it’s a notable date record: that 34.8C is the hottest on record before 26th June<\/em> when 35.4C was recorded in a couple of places in the famously, freakishly hot summer of 1976.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it’s similarly hot today, Tuesday 26th May. I’m hunkered down indoors but my outdoor thermometer earlier on radioed in temperatures in excess of 33C here in Ealing. (Note: before I’d finished writing this post the Met Office reported that the temperature reached 35.1C today, 26th May 2026, in Kew Gardens).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heatwaves Tell Us a Lot<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heatwaves are not just a problem in themselves – especially in a city so ill-prepared for global warming (GW) as London – they also give us a very good idea of how GW is progressing without the need to process vast amounts of data. Analysis of how hot it can possibly get captures the essence of GW – the effect of changing physical climatic parameters – very efficiently. If you work smart then working hard is optional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s why this is my 21st(!) post assigned to the Heatwave category<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s an interesting graph I came across on Twitter yesterday<\/a>, courtesy of @MetJam (using Met Office data):<\/p>\n\n\n

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