Is It a Heatwave?

Saturday was another scorcher of a day with the temperature reaching 29.4°C. There was more cloud about but it didn't cool the day down at all. 

Strangely we often talk about heatwaves but what exactly is a heatwave. Other countries such as America and Australia where high temperatures are more extreme than the UK do have definitions. It seems that here in the UK we don't have a precise definition.

The best I’ve been able to find is this Guide to Heat-Health Watch. This system operates in England and Wales from 1 June to 15 September each year in association with the Department of Health and the Welsh Assembly. Details are available on the Met office website here.

Earlier in the week Yorkshire and Humberside was put on a level 3 alert and whilst we had two consecutive days above 29°C night time temperatures have fallen back to below 15°C

Temperatures and Sunshine records for Thursday, Friday & Saturday 11 to 13 July 2013

That means we haven't had a heatwave because it’s been too cold during the night. However heatwave or not it’s certainly been the best summer weather since July 2006 and it’s forecast to continue well into next week.

Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett