2021 British Isles heatwave

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2021 United Kingdom and Ireland heat wave
Areas	British Isles
Start date	15 July 2021
End date	25 July 2021
Peak temp.	32.2 °C (90.0 °F), recorded at Heathrow Airport, London on 21 July 2021

The 2021 Britain and Ireland heat wave was a period of unusually hot weather in July 2021 that led to record-breaking temperatures in the UK and Ireland.

On 19 July, the Met Office issued its first ever extreme heat warning for parts of the UK.^[1]^[2] Temperatures soared across the United Kingdom over a weekend which saw all four nations record the hottest day of the year.^[3]^[4] On 17 July, temperatures reached 31.2 °C (88.2 °F) in County Down, Northern Ireland.^[5] On 18 July, temperatures reached 31.6 °C (88.9 °F) at Heathrow Airport, London and 30.2 °C (86.4 °F) in Cardiff, Wales.^[6]^[7]

In the Republic of Ireland, Met Éireann issued its first ever Status Orange high temperature warning for six counties on 20 July,^[8] after temperatures reached 29.5 °C (85.1 °F) in Athenry, County Galway on 17 July.^[9]

On 21 July, temperatures reached 32.2 °C (90.0 °F) at Heathrow, London.^[10] In Ireland, temperatures reached 30.8 °C (87.4 °F) at Mount Dillon, County Roscommon. In Northern Ireland a new record for maximum temperature was set, with 31.3 °C (88.3 °F) was reached at Castlederg, County Tyrone.^[11]

Despite the extreme weather warning, the 2021 July heatwave was relatively mild in comparison to heatwaves in the UK and Ireland of previous and subsequent years, with heatwaves in previous years surpassing the maximum temperature of this heatwave, particularly in the south east.^[12]^[13]^[14]

References

[edit]

^ "UK weather warnings - Met Office". Met Office. 19 July 2021. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
^ Wright, Katie (19 July 2021). "Met Office issues first UK extreme heat warning". BBC News. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
^ "In pictures: UK soaks up sun as heatwave set to continue". BBC News. 19 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
^ Blaney, Amy; O'Keeffe, Alan (17 July 2021). "Officially the hottest day of the year: Met Eireann reveals the spot where mercury smashed through 29.5C". Irish Independent. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
^ Maskell, Geoff (17 July 2021). "Hottest NI day ever as temperatures soar above 30C". BBC News. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
^ "UK weather: Heatwave to continue after England and Wales see hottest day of the year so far". Sky News. 18 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
^ "UK sees hottest day of 2021 so far as temperatures soar to 31.6C". The Independent. 18 July 2021. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
^ Brennan, Cianan; McGlynn, Michelle; Clarke, Vivienne (20 July 2021). "First ever Status Orange high temperature warning issued as midnight temps could hit 26°C". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
^ "Hottest day of the year as temperatures reach 29.5C". RTÉ News and Current Affairs. 17 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
^ Gibbons, Brett (21 July 2021). "No respite from heat but thunderstorm and floods threat for some areas of England". Bristol Post. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
^ "Hottest day of year as temperature of 31.3C recorded in Northern Ireland". RTÉ News and Current Affairs. 21 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
^ "Climate summaries – Met Office". Met Office. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
^ "New official highest temperature in UK confirmed". Met Office. 29 July 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
^ "August heat-wave" (PDF). Met Office. 6 August 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2021.

Heat waves

Antarctica

2024

Asia

Europe

Before 1950	1540 July 1757 1906 (UK) 1911 (UK)
1950–1999	1955 (UK) 1976 UK and Ireland 1990 (UK) 1995 (UK)
2000–present	2003 2006 2007 2010 2013 (UK) 2014 (Sweden) 2018 UK Europe 2019 2021 (UK and Ireland) 2022 Europe UK Drought 2023 Drought Heat waves Cerberus 2024

North America

Before 1950	1896 (East) 1901 (East) 1911 (East) 1934 and 1935 1936
1950–1999	1980 (US) 1983-1985 drought 1988–1990 drought 1995 (Chicago)
2000–present	2000 (Southern US) 2001 (East) 2006 2007 2010 2011 2012 March Summer 2018 2020-2023 drought 2021 (West) 2022 2023 2023 (Caribbean) 2024

Oceania

South America

v t e Weather events in the United Kingdom
Climate of the United Kingdom climate change Drought in the United Kingdom United Kingdom weather records
Avalanches	Lewes 1836 Buachaille Etive Mòr 2009
Cold snaps	1683–84 1709 1894–95 1946–47 1962–63 1981–82 1985–86 1987 1990–91 October 2008 2009–10 2010–11 February 2012 Spring 2013 February–March 2018
Snow events	January 1881 March 1891 April 1981 January 1995 February 2009 March 2013 March 2018 (Emma) March 2023 (Larisa)
Flash floods	Louth 1920 Lynmouth 1952 Chew Stoke 1968 Glasgow 2002 Boscastle 2004 Morpeth 2008 Yorkshire Dales 2019 London 2021
Floods	Bristol Channel 1607¹ Trent 1683 Holmfirth 1738, 1777, 1944 North East England 1771 Strathspey 1829 Thames 1928 Thames 1947 South England 1968 Autumn 2000 Summer 2007 August 2008 November–December 2009 Workington 2009 2012–13 Winter 2013–14 Somerset Levels 2013–14 Winter 2015–16 June 2016 Winter 2019–20 Yorkshire Dales 2019 Summer 2022 2023 2024
Storm surges	South England 1287 North Sea 1287 Thames 1928 North Sea 1953 North Sea 1976 North Sea 1978 North Sea 2007 North Sea and Irish Sea 2013
Thunderstorms	Widecombe-in-the-Moor 1638 July 1968
Tornadoes	London 1091 Great Malvern 1761 October 1913 November 1981 Birmingham 2005 London 2006 October 2022
Windstorms and former hurricanes	December 1703 November 1824 January 1839 August 1848 October 1859 February 1871 December 1879 October 1881 February 1903 September 1961 (Debbie) February 1962 January 1968 January 1976 August 1986 (Charley) October 1987 January 1990 October 1996 (Lili) December 1998 January 2007 September 2011 (Katia) December 2011 January 2012 October 2013 December 2013 Christmas 2013 January 2014 February 2014 October 2014 (Gonzalo) November 2015 (Abigail) December 2015 (Desmond) December 2015 (Eva) October 2017 (Ophelia) January 2018 (Eleanor) October 2019 (Lorenzo) February 2020 (Ciara) February 2020 (Dennis) September 2020 (Alex) December 2021 (Barra) February 2022 (Eunice) October 2023 (Babet) November 2023 (Ciarán) December 2024 (Darragh)
Windstorm seasons	2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Heatwaves Droughts	1757 1808 1906 1911 1955 1976 1990 1995 2003 2006 2013 2018 2019 2021 2022
Wildfires	Summer 2018 February–May 2019 Wareham 2020 April–August 2022 Wennington 2022 Cannich 2023
Other	Great Smog 1952 Great Stink 1858
¹ Disputed tsunami