UK faces 30C temperatures this week and uncomfortable tropical nights (2024)

FAQs

Why does 30 degrees feel hotter in UK than abroad? ›

"In the UK, the relative humidity is higher than in countries with dry heat. This makes it harder for our bodies to cool down because sweat doesn't evaporate as well.

A Tropical Night occurs when the lowest temperature of the day does not go below 20 °C.

As such, we don't always wear cooler clothes, drink enough water or spend time in the shade – meaning we're less prepared to cope with the temperatures. Indeed, as a spokesperson for the Met Office told MyLondon: “The level of humidity can be higher in the UK than in continental Europe.

Polar maritime is the most common air mass to affect the British Isles. This air mass starts very cold and dry but during its long passage over the relatively warm waters of the North Atlantic its temperature rises rapidly and it becomes unstable to a great depth.

The midlands today had a relative humidity of 55%, whereas Orlando was 52%.

Britain's weather is largely shaped by the polar front jet stream, a powerful 30,000ft-high air current, hundreds of miles wide, that forms where cold air from the Arctic meets warm air from the tropics.

As people soaked up the sunshine amid the mini heatwave, the Met Office has said that change should be expected as the high temperatures will not last. People should expect a “tropical night” on Friday across most parts of the UK, where temperatures are expected not to fall below 20°C overnight.

However, people seem to sleep best when bedroom temperatures are between 16-24 degrees Celsius (61-75 F). Those who are used to sleeping in warmer temperatures such as when living in the tropics can acclimatise to a certain degree and sleep reasonably in bedroom temperatures up to 28 degrees Celsius (82 F).

The climate of the north and central parts of the U.S. state of Florida is humid subtropical. South Florida has a tropical climate.

It all comes down to the jet stream, a fast-moving strand of air five to seven miles above the Earth that blows west to east. The jet stream has flowed across the UK or further south, allowing areas of low pressure to move in, which brings wind, rain and cooler temperatures.

Will summer 2024 be hot in the UK? ›

Although a few places reached heatwave conditions back at the end of June, summer 2024 so far has been cooler than average. At the time of writing, the mean temperature in the UK stands at 13.04°C, which is 1.55°C cooler than the long-term meteorological average for the summer reason.

Germany enjoys a warm summer with slightly higher temperatures than the UK. Areas in the north, like Hamburg, Rostock and Bremen, have a cooling wind from the North and Baltic Sea. In the south and west, it's usually a little hotter and humid, with a few more showers.

In the British case, even though the southernmost point of England lies some 300 miles north of the northernmost point of Japan, the Isles have significantly warmer winters, thanks to the Atlantic Ocean and its Gulf Stream, which carries warm equatorial water up the eastern seaboard of North America and thence eastward ...

Because we are an island and surrounded by water , heat from the sun evaporates the water into. the atmosphere and as it passes over land cools and condenses adding humidity to the air above us.

England, and Ireland have similar climates, being neighbours. The Faeroe Islands have a similar climate to Shetland. The far north of Japan and the Falkland islands are also not that far away climatically.

The Gulf Stream affects the climate in Britain by bringing warm water from the Caribbean to North West Europe. This keeps the climate in Britain warmer than other places at a similar latitude.

Continentality. A location's proximity to the sea affects its temperature and how often it rains. - in winter, the sea insulates the islands as it cools more slowly than the land and this helps to keep the UK warmer than most other countries of the same latitude.

Poor Insulation

Inadequate insulation allows heat from the sun to penetrate your home, raising the overall temperature. Areas such as attics, walls, and floors that lack proper insulation can contribute significantly to this problem.

Thus a temperature of 35 feels like 35. In many cities of Europe, heat waves come with humidity, which can make it feel much hotter than it is. There is also the fact that in high latitude cities summer night is very short, which makes the day feel almost relentless and night cooling feel less significant.