The hottest September day since 1949 (now since 1911)
Here in London, the weather has been incredible today for mid September. The peak temperature – towards 2 pm – was an amazing 32C (of oldies, like me, that’s 90F). Fortunately I had no meetings today, so I did not need to endure the London underground to travel into the city centre. Instead I ate prawn salad for lunch while sitting outdoors on the terrace with the awning extended.
According to the news report on the BBC website, the hottest temperature in the country today was 32.8C at Heathrow Airport quite close to where I live in north-west London. This makes it the hottest September day for 67 years – that is, as far back as 1949. There is a particular explanation for this week’s weather – something to do with Hurricane Hermine – but one can’t help seeing this as a further manifestation of the growing impact global warming.
Footnote: Since I wrote this post, another record has been broken. We now find that today has been the warmest September day since 1911 – this has been recorded in Gravesend, Kent, where it reached 34.4C (93.9F). Whew!