It’s been an extraordinary summer so far with 16 consecutive days in which somewhere in the UK has hit 28C or higher and 5 consecutive days above 30C.

Scotland typically enjoys a heatwave for no more than 10 days and often sees an end to heatwaves before England as high pressure is typically replaced by low pressure from the west. This is expected to happen through next week. However this year is turning out to be one of the longest dry, settled and warmest spells in my 35 year lifetime.

Why such a prolonged dry, warm spell in 2018? Dry spring, early summer coupled with neutral ENSO and cold AMO set the stage nicely.

While looking back at recent ‘hot spells’, two particular periods stand out. In July 2006 Glasgow enjoyed a record 22 out of 31 days above 21C followed by July 2013 with 20 days.

As for this year, today was the first since June 24th where Glasgow Airport failed to reach 21C, ending a streak of 16th CONSECUTIVE days at or above 21C. This could be a record or certainly the longest stretch in decades.

Hottest day came in midst of one of the longest stretches of 21C+

Of course within this remarkable stretch of warmth came Glasgow’s hottest day in decades with 29.5C exceeding 28.6C recorded in July 2014 which was the hottest for the city since 2005. The 95.5C reached on June 27th was followed by 31.9C the following day. This of course exceeded 31.2C in 1975 as Glasgow’s hottest day on record.

Here are those temperatures in Glasgow since the 21C streak commenced and ended today.

Today 10th: 20.3C

Mon 9th: 22C

Sun 8th: 23C

Sat 7th: 23C

Fri 6th: 21C

Thu 5th: 22C

Wed 4th: 26C

Tue 3rd: 25C

Mon 2nd: 21C

Sun 1st JULY: 26C

Sat 30th: 25C

Fri 29th: 24C

Thu 28th: 32C **

Wed 27th: 29C

Tue 26th: 26C

Mon 25th: 24C

Sun 24th: 21C

The last time Glasgow failed to hit 21C was back on Saturday 23rd June when the high only reached 17C.

With cooler, cloudier conditions moving in, it’s likely this streak ends tomorrow.

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Tags: glasgow airport, glasgow heat