It’s a question being asked across social media amid the UK heatwave: why does heat in the UK ‘hit different’?
Temperatures in parts of the country hit 34.8°C yesterday, provisionally setting a new UK daily temperature record for spring and May.
While this is undeniably hot, many people have questioned why these temperatures feel so much warmer here than in other countries.
Taking to TikTok, @willfritz, an American living in London, said: ‘I used to make fun of Brits complaining about the heat, because where I’m from it gets to be 40°C for a month of the year. Never mind – what the f*** is this? It is 27°C and I am sweating.’
@jeenavdheever added: ‘Spent 6 months in Asia and Australia in peak humidity and 32° heat just fine, so tell me why I’m melting and borderline dehydrated in 25° in the UK???’
And @vanessalancionehornsby joked: ‘My favourite time of year is the annual “Great Humbling” whereby people from very hot countries experience a British heatwave for the first time and realize that Brits do not exaggerate when they say 25–33 degrees in hotter than Satan’s a**hole.’
Now, scientists have revealed why heat feels so much more intense in the UK – and say the high humidity and lack of facilities are largely to blame.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Professor Hannah Cloke, Regius Professor of Meteorology and Climate Science University of Reading said: ‘The UK is simply not built for sustained heat.’
Temperatures in parts of the country hit 34.8°C yesterday, provisionally setting a new UK daily temperature record for spring and May
It’s a question being asked across social media amid the UK heatwave: why does heat in the UK ‘hit different’?
According to scientists, Britain’s intense heat comes down to three key factors – humidity, lack of infrastructure, and climate change.
Firstly, the UK has relatively humid air – especially during heatwaves, which are fed by warm southerly flows over the Atlantic.
Professor Cloke explained: ’30°C in the UK can feel surprisingly oppressive because heat is not just about the number on the thermometer, it is about how efficiently your body can cool itself.
‘Humidity slows the evaporation of sweat, which is the body’s natural air–conditioning system, so a 30°C day can feel much stickier and more exhausting than the same temperature in a dry climate like southern Spain.
‘What is unusual right now is less the absolute humidity and more the persistence of the warmth, including overnight.’
Dr Akshay Deoras, Senior Research Scientist at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science & Department of Meteorology, says this explains why you don’t feel as hot in other countries where the reading on the thermometer is higher.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘In drier climates such as parts of the Middle East or South Asia, even at similar or higher air temperatures, low humidity allows sweat to evaporate more easily, improving natural cooling. ‘
Unlike the UK, other countries have measures in place to beat the heat, including air conditioning.
Scientists have revealed why heat feels so much more intense in the UK – and say the high humidity and lack of facilities are larely to blame
Professor Cloke said: ‘Our homes are designed like thermal flasks to keep warmth in during winter, not release it during summer.
‘Many buildings trap heat overnight, and because air conditioning is still relatively uncommon, there is often little relief indoors.
‘In cities, concrete and brick can store heat through the day and re–radiate it at night, creating an urban heat island effect where nights stay uncomfortably warm.
‘That is why a British heatwave can feel relentless, especially when temperatures stay high after dark.’
Worryingly, Professor Cloke says the painful heat could become the norm in Britain, thanks to climate change.
‘Unfortunately, this is a glimpse of the future,’ she said.
‘Climate change is making UK heatwaves more frequent, more intense and longer lasting.
‘We are now seeing temperatures in late spring that would once have been exceptional even in mid–summer.
‘The atmosphere is effectively being loaded with extra heat energy, raising the ceiling for temperature extremes.
‘What once felt extraordinary is steadily becoming the new normal.’
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Ben Clarke, Research Associate in Extreme Weather and Climate Change at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, added: ‘While hot sunny weather has always happened occasionally and always will, climate change is making it much hotter and more dangerous when it does happen.’
The latest comments come as the Met Office confirms that a new UK daily temperature record for spring and May has been provisionally broken.
Yesterday, temperatures at Kew Gardens hit 34.8°C, which is a full 2°C higher than the previous record reached in 1922 and 1944.
The record was also surpassed at Heathrow, Greater London (34.4°C); Northolt, Greater London (34.2°C); Teddington Bushy Park, Middlesex (34.0°C), Benson, Oxfordshire (33.6°C); Wisley, Surrey (33.3°C); Reading University, Berkshire (33.2°C); Wellesbourne, Warwickshire (33.2°C); Cippenham, Berkshire (33.0°C); Brize Norton, Oxfordshire (32.9°C); Charlwood, Surrey (32.9°C); Houghton Hall, Norfolk (32.9°C) and Santon Downham, Suffolk (32.9°C).
The record was also equalled at Marham, Norfolk and Woburn, Bedfordshire.
‘If confirmed and validated, and May sees a new official daily temperature record, it would mean that more than half of the monthly record highs – 7 out of 12 – have been set since 2003,’ the Met Office said.
