The 2018 Britain and Ireland heat wave was a period of unusually hot weather that took place in June, July and August. It caused widespread drought,
hosepipe ban
An outdoor water-use restriction is a ban or other lesser restrictions put into effect that restricts the outdoor use of water supplies. Often called a watering ban or hosepipe ban, it can affect:
*irrigation of lawns
* car washing
* recreation ...
s,
crop failure
Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor- ...
s, and a number of
wildfires
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...
. These wildfires worst affected northern
moorland areas around the
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...
region, the largest was at
Saddleworth Moor and another was at
Winter Hill, together these burned over of land over a period of nearly a month.
A
heat wave
A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...
was officially declared on 22 June, with Scotland and Northern Ireland recording temperatures above for the first time since the
July 2013 heat wave. The
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
were in the middle of a strong
warm anticyclone inside a strong northward meander of the
jet stream, this was part of the wider
2018 European heat wave
The 2018 European drought and heat wave was a period of unusually hot weather that led to record-breaking temperatures and wildfires in many parts of Europe during the spring and summer of 2018. It is part of a larger heat wave affecting the ...
. The
Met Office declared summer 2018 the joint hottest on record together with
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 ...
,
2003 and
2006.
Weather earlier in 2018
Spring started with record cold in early March with the
2018 Great Britain and Ireland cold wave
Anticyclone Hartmut (dubbed the ''Beast from the East'' ( ga, An Torathar ón Oirthear)) was a storm that began on 22 February 2018, and brought a cold wave to Great Britain and Ireland. Anticyclone Hartmut also brought widespread unusually l ...
. There were three spells of summer heat afterwards, starting in mid-April. The April 2018 heatwave began on 18 and 19 April.
St James's Park
St James's Park is a park in the City of Westminster, central London. It is at the southernmost tip of the St James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St James the Less. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous ch ...
in London recorded the country's hottest April day in nearly 70 years when temperatures reached . The unseasonably hot weather lasted for four days. On 22 April, the hottest
London Marathon
The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...
ever was recorded, with the temperature reaching . No national records were broken, but many places set local record high temperatures for April.
After a cooler period from the end of April, temperatures started to rise again during early May. The May Day
bank holiday was the hottest on record, with west London recording . A few days later, temperatures began to fall, but were still above average. Temperatures began to rise even higher towards the end of May. It sparked violent thunderstorms leading to flash flooding, giving some parts of the country their first measurable precipitation during May. On 27 May, of torrential rain fell at Winterbourne, West Midlands, causing a flash flood. The majority of the country was hot and sunny. May 2018 was one of the warmest and sunniest on record in the UK.
Before the heat wave,
anticyclonic
An anticyclone is a weather phenomenon defined as a large-scale circulation of winds around a central region of high atmospheric pressure, clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from abov ...
conditions prevailed across the UK. May and early June had been much warmer and drier than average, the latter being the driest since 1925 due to a persistently strong
Azores High
The Azores High also known as North Atlantic (Subtropical) High/Anticyclone or the Bermuda-Azores High, is a large subtropical semi-permanent centre of high atmospheric pressure typically found south of the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, at the Ho ...
. This high-pressure
block
Block or blocked may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting
* W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...
prevented Atlantic low-pressure weather systems from reaching the British Isles.
Summer heat wave
The heat wave began on 23 June 2018 as
high pressure
In science and engineering the study of high pressure examines its effects on materials and the design and construction of devices, such as a diamond anvil cell, which can create high pressure. By ''high pressure'' is usually meant pressures of th ...
built across the UK. Temperatures gradually rose, and new records were set in towns and cities across the British Isles.
These include
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
,
Shannon in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and both
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
and
Castlederg in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
.
This temperature rise was part of a heat wave that spanned the entire Northern Hemisphere. The heat wave had seen the hottest night ever recorded on Earth in
Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...
, with the lowest temperature recorded at , and the deaths of at least 33 people in Canada.
Wildfires
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...
began to break out across England. The two largest fires broke out at
Saddleworth Moor on 25 June, and at
Winter Hill on 28 June, the former being England's largest in living memory.
As of September 2018, arrests were made on the charge of
arson, yet the cause of these fires was undetermined.
However, the factor that allowed the fires to establish was the persistently hot and breezy weather conditions. This dried out vegetation and the underlying
peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient ...
, allowing it to easily burn.
On 2 July, forecasters predicted that high pressure would continue over the UK and that the heat wave could continue for another two weeks.
On 5 July, a weak
weather front
A weather front is a boundary separating air masses for which several characteristics differ, such as air density, wind, temperature, and humidity. Disturbed and unstable weather due to these differences often arises along the boundary. For in ...
arrived from the west, but was mostly halted over Ireland and the
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...
. This caused some scattered showers over the
Pennines, and a thunderstorm that caused
flash floods in
Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...
. The weather also affected roads nationwide, and
gritter
A winter service vehicle (WSV), or snow removal vehicle, is a vehicle specially designed or adapted to clear thoroughfares of ice and snow. Winter service vehicles are usually based on a dump truck chassis, with adaptations allowing them to car ...
s were mobilised due to the
asphalt concrete softening under the extreme heat. In
Heaton, Newcastle
Heaton is a district and suburb in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, east of the city centre. It is bordered by the neighbouring areas of Walkergate to the east, Jesmond to the north west, Byker to the south, and Sandyford to the west. ...
, a man sank into a melted road and required a rescue from firefighters, and a
bin lorry sank into a road in
Newbury, Berkshire.
On 10 July, a weak
cold front
A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface trough of low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropical cyclone (to the west in the Northern ...
crossed Britain from north to south, bringing low cloud levels and scattered showers. However, this cool air was quickly heated by the sun the next day, increasing temperatures yet again. The Met Office announced that the highest temperature on 23 July was , recorded at
Santon Downham in
Suffolk.
Effects on the economy
The long period of dry warm weather, although with unpleasant levels of humidity, strongly boosted the domestic tourism trade during this period. The official Visit Britain body forecast the number of international visitors to the UK would increase by around 15% from the USA alone, as the effect of the worldwide
Royal Wedding
''Royal Wedding'' is a 1951 American musical comedy film directed by Stanley Donen, and starring Fred Astaire and Jane Powell, with music by Burton Lane and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Set in 1947 London at the time of the wedding of Princess ...
publicity fed through into fine summer weather and late holiday bookings. Hotels in competing Mediterranean resorts, such as
Ibiza, were forced to slash their prices as demand from British tourists declined sharply as people decided to holiday in the British Isles. Remoter resorts and destinations benefited from visitors' attempts to escape the domestic crowds, and rural Ireland reported a dramatic increase in tourism with an average of 70% occupancy rates at smaller establishments.
Many companies concerned with outdoor activities reported the usual boost in sales that comes from a good summer, and estate agents reported that the warm dry summer was also helping their industry. Fresh produce growers such as the soft fruit sector were largely unaffected by the lack of rain, with British Summer Fruits chairman Nick Marsto telling ''Horticulture Week'' trade magazine that the... "soft-fruit sector has largely avoided any adverse effects.
Health effects
The heatwave added to pressure on the
NHS
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
, on A&E departments and elsewhere.
Shadow Health Secretary
The Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is an office within British politics held by a member of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition. The duty of the office holder is to scrutinise the actions of the government's Secretary of State f ...
Jon Ashworth
Jonathan Michael Graham Ashworth (born 14 October 1978) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions since 2021. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) f ...
said, "I am very worried about the impact on the NHS of this summer. We know that this hot weather, (...) affects very elderly, vulnerable people. We know that asthma sufferers suffer particularly badly in the weather.
shworth mentioned his first hand experiences shadowing a hospital consultantwith lots of elderly vulnerable people being admitted to A&E, lying on trolleys because there's no beds in the hospital".
There were fears of over 1,000 excess deaths during the heat wave. The Environmental Audit Committee of MP's reported fears 7,000 heat-related UK deaths annually by 2050 unless the government acts promptly. Chair of the committee,
Mary Creagh said, "The government must stop playing
pass the parcel
Pass the parcel is a classic British party game in which a parcel is passed from one person to another.
In preparation for the game, a prize (or "gift") is wrapped in a large number of layers of wrapping paper or reusable fabric bags of different ...
with local councils and the NHS and develop a strategy to protect our ageing population from this increasing risk". At risk, groups include elderly people, small children and people with heart and/or lung conditions. There were calls for government regulations to protect an ageing population from the effects of heat, effects include increased risk of death.
[Regular heatwaves 'will kill thousands](_blank)
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...
in some areas of the UK there were 42% increased deaths in nursing homes and the MP's wanted hospitals and care homes to be inspected to find out if they could cope with extreme heat. The
and others called for regulations about maximum workplace temperatures.
of the TUC stated, "With heatwaves becoming more common, we need clear and sensible rules to protect working people. We've had legal minimum temperatures at work for a long time, which work very well. The government must now act quickly on the recommendation by MPs for maximum limits on how hot workplaces can get".
Dress codes for work and school uniform policy should be relaxed during heatwaves to improve work productivity and school learning. Ministers withdrew money for
officers in local authorities. Lack of "joined-up thinking" between government departments and lack of communication between the government and the public added to the death toll. Heatwave alerts are put out only if temperatures are over 30 °C, but heat-related deaths start at 25 degrees.
There were excess deaths during the 2018 heat wave but the cause is not yet known.
since 1995. Other water companies also had supply problems, such as
, with more than usual being used on 1 July.