We live in Herefordshire on the Western side of England and adjacent to the Welsh border. As the rain normally comes from the SW direction and the BreconBeacons/Black Mountains are in the way we, nowadays, seem to have either floods (many months December to February 2019/20) or drought (ever since and we are now desperate for rain on the vegetable plot if nowhere else!). No rain in the forecast (apart from possible thunderstorms next week) but we are promised a HEATWAVE which started yesterday. On looking at the Met Office Heatwave chart (not met this before), quoted by the Environment Agency, this means that Herefordshire is expecting the temperature to reach 26C for 3 days in a row!!! This may not seem much to you but is unusual for us but this definition only works for a swathe of counties on the Western and Northern fringes of the hotter counties towards the SE where the mercury has to top 27C!! So Worcestershire on our Eastern border has to be fractionally hotter to qualify. This area does not include London where 28C is needed but I think they’ll manage that OK on this occasion as the highest temperature recorded in the UK yesterday was 36.4C (and the hottest ever is 38.7C in July 2019). What about the rest of the country (ie most of Devon and Cornwall, Wales, Northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland) ? - 25C for the 3 days gives them a heatwave.
These figures may seem very low to many overseas readers but we don’t often have heatwaves and this is part of the climate change that is affecting us all. The same Environment Agency thread tells me that Tasmania has just recorded its coldest temperature at -13.8C. So when packing for a holiday (in your dreams!) take your sunhat to the UK and thermals to Australia!
Hi Vicky,
Everything is relative. 26C feels just perfect temp for me.
We are having 34ºC now (13h56 local- 11h56z) and 36ºC are forecasted in about 3 hours time. That’s far too much to attempt a SOTA activation…
Cheers,
Uncomfortable 36°C in the Swiss low lands, too. It gets better with altitude: We went on a family trip to Jungfraujoch at 3500m today. (Not a SOTA activity but very nice anyway) Overseeing the Aletsch glacier, it was +5°C but it felt warmer in the sun. I had a view from the North side on HB/VS-110, which I activated a week ago Altitudes around or higher than 2000m seem to be in the comfort zone right now. Fortunately, there are quite a few of these in HB9 that don’t require alpine climbing skills.
Now everyone knows why Arizona stations prefer the 10 point summits in the summer, and why 1 and 2 point summits are basically ignored this time of year. The hardest summits in Arizona are most of the 1 and 2 point peaks…all rock, no trails, and dangerously hot most of the year.
This coming week is going to be all 110 F and above they say…peaking at 114 degrees Thursday…and Thursday morning I will be up at 4 AM to do a 6 AM (or earlier) activation of a desert 2 pointer.
Gotta be off the mountain and back in the AC before 9 AM!
The Aussie Heat is why I don’t do SOTA here after the end of October with an exception to an early morning activation at New years morning. Those hot 26c Summer days are like our 20 to 25c winter days usually after a minus 1c frosty start to the day . We actually had snow fall on several summits I visited earlier in this year which is a very rare thing to happen here in good old vk5. My only advice would be get on the summits early and off again before the max temp for the day which is usually well after midday and take plenty of water.
Stay Safe
Regards
Ian vk5cz …
Altitudes around or higher than 2000m seem to be in the comfort zone right now. Fortunately, there are quite a few of these in HB9 that don’t require alpine climbing skills.
