20 Years Ago....an Intense British Heatwave

[Weather-history]

Well it was 20 years ago that intense heatwave of early August 1990 struck

37.1C was recorded at Cheltenham.

Manchester Airport

2nd Aug: 34.0C

3rd Aug: 33.9C

Birimingham Airport

1st Aug: 31.0C

2nd Aug: 33.5C

3rd Aug: 35.0C

Heathrow

1st Aug: 32.5C

2nd Aug: 34.0C

3rd Aug: 36.5C

4th Aug: 34.4C

Hawarden

2nd Aug: 34.4C

3rd Aug: 33.1C

Rhyl

2nd Aug: 33.5C

3rd Aug: 30.9C

Blackpool Airport

2nd Aug: 33.5C

Pershore

1st Aug: 30.6C

2nd Aug: 34.1C

3rd Aug: 35.6C

[stewfox]

Well it was 20 years ago that intense heatwave of early August 1990 struck

I moved into my 1 Bedroom starter home in July 1990.

It came with a small pond without a pumb and i remember the fish struggling

A neighbour who left his sprinkler on 24/7 and how it warped my fence

Happy days

[North-Easterly Blast]

What strikes me is why the early August 1990 heatwave always gets a mention now and often more so than other intense heatwaves in recent years. It was really only a four day spell of intense heat for most of the country, and only the 1st to 4th of August saw daily CETs over 20*C. All this also came in an otherwise little warmer than an average summer. The heatwave in August 2003, (and others in the last 20 years like the summer of 1995, July 2006 etc) far exceeded the Aug 1990 hot spell, and in Aug 2003 most of the UK saw exceptionally hot weather for around ten days and it brought the first occasion that an individual temperature of 100*F was recorded in the UK.

Kevin Bradshaw, I would be very happy if you could post a written summary and charts for August 2003 to accompany this 1990 thread? Especially as we are also approaching the anniversary of this intense heatwave as well! During the first week in August seven years ago we were staring down the barrell of a week or more of exceptionally hot weather with forecasts predicting that 100*F will be breached for the first time ever.

[Optimus Prime]

A number of areas in the more southern location had their highest recorded temperature on record that month that year.

Edited August 1, 2010 by Optimus Prime

[philglossop]

Oh boy how I remember that Heatwave.

There were of course other events at the time which made it all the more memorial, namely Iraq invaded Kuwait on the 2nd August, whcih led to the 1st Gulf War. There was a lot of speculation regarding the UK going to war (which of course we did as part of the Allies), and this did keep the weather off the main headline.

As for personal events, I remember we were staying with my Aunts on Dartmoor at the time. Firstly it was the only time in my life I took a shower to cool down and came out dried and within 5 minutes was dripping with sweat again. We had a visit to South Molton and the temp was around 33c (unoffical figure) and we sat in the garden till midnight throughout that week in temps that would make a nice summers day (around 20c).

Happy days.

[4wd]

It must've been quite a good summer as I remember this was the only time ever we had hay and (autumn sown)winter barley all finished and in the shed including the straw by the last day of July.

I went on a weeks holiday in Scotland which promptly made it rain of course...

[stewfox]

What strikes me is why the early August 1990 heatwave always gets a mention now and often more so than other intense heatwaves in recent years. It was really only a four day spell of intense heat for most of the country, and only the 1st to 4th of August saw daily CETs over 20*C.

August 1990 the 7th highest August CET in 351 yrs , thank god for stats :lol:

Many many days hit above 20c CET with month average 18c. It was hot to very warm most of the month

Edited August 4, 2010 by stewfox

[Thundery wintry showers]

I think it's remembered because, until 10 August 2003, it was associated with the UK's highest temperature on record and the heat affected most of the country rather than just the southeast.

According to an article by Dennis Wheeler in Weather, even Sunderland made 33.0C on the 3rd, while Durham made 32.5C and Lancaster made 32.1C. All of those values exceeded anything that August 1995 or July 2006 threw up- at Cleadon (which presumably also made 33C or thereabouts on 3 August 1990 given close proximity to Sunderland) it got no higher than 29C in either of those months.

I have no issues at all with the way the spell is remembered and considered remarkable- because for most, it was.

[Radiating Dendrite]

Looking at the uppers though they do not look amazing, I mean in terms of temps given the heat that was recorded. For the 2003 heatwave we had 20c+ uppers in the SE. Was it more a case of the good upper temps covering the whole of the country?

[Thundery wintry showers]

1990 had one of the warmest, driest and sunniest springs on record over eastern, central and southern Britain plus the near-Continent, and following a dull cold wet June the sun and dryness returned during July which was one of the sunniest on record. I imagine that, like in 2003, parched surfaces will have contributed.

The lower 850s are consistent with the fact that the heat was not as extreme in the hottest areas as in August 2003, particularly over the near Continent (no 40+ temps over most of France for long runs of consecutive days), but the highest 850s covered a larger area of the British Isles than in 2003.

[Terminal Moraine]

I well remember cycling home from work that afternoon; a hilly 16 miles. The heat from the road gave the effect of cycling into an open oven door and the tar was melting to such an extent it sounded as though the tyres were going through water. I got home and promptly consumed about 2 litres of water.

Aug' 3rd 1990 still stands as the hottest day on record here with a max' of 31.7c; in fact the 2nd and 3rd August 1990 are the only days to reach 30c since I began keeping records in the early 1960s.

[cheeky_monkey]

1990 had one of the warmest, driest and sunniest springs on record over eastern, central and southern Britain plus the near-Continent,

Yes i remember the spring of 1990 being exceptionally sunny more than the heat of early August 1990..and of course Italia 90 fell in between so that makes the whole 1990 thing a bit more magical too!

[DeepSnow]

I wasn't born then, but just read on the met office that 35.2C was recorded on 2nd August 1990 at Hawarden Bridge (Flintshire), which is still the hottest on record for wales!! I though 2003 would of held the highest for wales but apparently not. Does anyone think the uk will see another record breaking heatwave within the next few decades?

[Weather-history]

From the Guardian

2nd 

3rd 

4th 

Observer

5th     

[A Face like Thunder]

Thanks for this reminder Weather-history. I recall our last night camping on Exmoor on the 3rd/4th and there were no tents in sight as everyone slept 'under the stars'. On the 4th (Queen Mum's 90th), I headed back in the sun and heat to Blackpool, but as I ventured north on the M6 towards Manchester, a line of cloud came over and by the time I arrived back on the Fylde coast, it was a lot cooler. A cold front perhaps, as with yesterday?  

[damianslaw]

Commented before on this.. remember it well as the 4th was a Saturday and we flew out to a holiday in Majorca that day. Distinctly remember the heat on the 3rd.. I think we hit about 33 degrees.. it came on the back of a lengthy very warm spell end July. Arriving in Majorca we stepped seamlessly into heat rather than the usual abrupt change.. 

[iand61]

We were in Benidorm and in the days before the internet, read about it the paper while sat in heatwave conditions there.

if I remember rightly, it was about the same time that Sadam Hussain’s army invaded Kuwait.