My Climate Change Garden

Britain is sizzling!

Everywhere is feeling the heat and the country is officially having a heatwave as it has experienced a full week of temperatures over 30c.

The World Meteorological Organization’s definition of a heatwave is when temperatures are over 5C (9F) above average for five days in a row

After a washout summer in 2012 and the coldest spring for over 50 years, temperatures have soared across the country due to a northward shift in the high-altitude jetstream, prompting several authorities to issue public warnings over the heat.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/07/18/uk-britain-weather-heatwave-idUKBRE96H0ZV20130718

The Met Office said Britain reached its highest temperature of 2013 on Wednesday, with 32.2C (89.9F) recorded at Hampton, southwest of London, and forecasters are expecting the mercury to rise over coming days.

The hottest July temperature in Britain was 36.5 C, recorded in Surrey, southern England, in 2006. The hottest ever in Britain was 38.5 degrees in the southeastern county of Kent in 2003.

July is also expected to become the driest July since records began in 1766 and may beat the record set in 1955 when only one inch (30mm) of rain fell.

“We have had 9mm of rain in the UK and 4mm in England – that is well below the average for the time of year. Although it is too early to say definitely, we could be looking at the driest July on record,” a Met Office spokeswoman said.