Lancaster University’s weather station records highest ever May temperatures

Lancaster University’s weather station, based in Hazelrigg, has recorded the highest ever temperature for May.

On bank holiday Monday the recorded temperature was 29.3°C, breaking the previous May temperature record (set in 1992) by 3.2°C.

Monday evening also marks the warmest May night on record at 16.5°C, after a total of 14.6 hours of sunshine in the daytime.

As a result of the predicted high temperatures over the bank holiday, the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning days prior, covering the north-west region of England.

Measurements have been taken daily from the Hazelrigg weather station since 1976 (plus 10 years prior to this at a site in Bailrigg), with the collected data being sent to the UK Met Office and contributing to the long-term record of the UK’s climate. Students enrolled in geographical or environmental subjects have the opportunity to get involved with taking such measurements, to get hands-on experience in data collection.

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Lancaster Environment Centre at Lancaster University

Dr James Heath, from Lancaster Environment Centre, said: “The most remarkable thing, as was the case with the record-breaking heatwave of July 2022, is that the record was broken by such a large margin – previous highest May temperature records are all clustered fairly close together, whereas this one stands out way above the rest.

“And while there may only be a few days left until June which is the start of Meteorological Summer, Hazelrigg has only ever recorded one June day hotter than last Monday, 30.1°C in 2023.

“The primary cause is a large area of high pressure situated over the UK and much of Europe. Air in a high pressure system is converging at height, from where it descends towards the surface, warming and drying as it does so.”

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