Hottest June day ever recorded at Lancaster University weather station

Wednesday, 14 June 2023 12:49

Scientists at Lancaster University’s Hazelrigg weather station have recorded the hottest June day since records began at the site.

Monday June 12, 2023 saw temperatures hit 30.1C, topping the previous records of 28.4C in June 2020 and 2000, by 1.7C

Temperatures have only topped 30C six times before at Hazelrigg - twice in July 2022, July 2019, July 2006, Aug 1990, and July 1976.

Hazelrigg is a UK Met. Office climatological station where daily measurements of temperature, rainfall and sunshine etc have been taken there since 1976, with a further 10-years of data collected before that on the university’s Bailrigg campus.

Dr James Heath, from Lancaster Environment Centre said: “With the background of global heating, extreme temperature events like this are undoubtedly becoming more common, and previous records are being broken by larger margins.

“The average annual temperature at the site may have only be increased by around 0.2 °C per decade, but the likelihood of extreme temperatures (one day in 1000 over the 56-year period as a whole) has risen four-fold over the last 10 years or so.

“The recent weeks have also been exceptionally dry and sunny. June’s only rainfall so far has been 1.2 mm on Saturday June 10."

For 22 consecutive days before that, there was no rainfall at all, with only 0.1mm on May 18, and the last significant fall being 13.5 mm on May 8.

“May as a whole only received 40 per cent of its normal total.”

Previous hottest June days:

28.4 °C (25th, 2020, 18th, 2000)

28.3 °C (29th, 1976)

28.2 °C (26th, 2018)

28.1 °C (29th, 2018)

28.1 °C (30th, 1976)

Days exceeding 30 °C

19th July 2022 – 35.3 °C

2nd August 1990 – 32.1 °C

25th July 2019 – 31.4 °C

18th July 2022 – 31.0 °C

3rd July 1976 – 30.0 °C

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