Heatwaves lasting twice as long as 50 years ago, climate change study finds
Tropical nights are on the rise throughout the UK and are now starting to occur as far north as Middlesbrough. A new report has revealed that heatwaves in the UK are also now lasting twice as long as they did 50 years ago, thanks to . As well as warmer spells lasting longer than ever before, the chilliest times of the year are now less cold than they were in the past. The Met Office report focuses on weather extremes and reveals that the duration of warm spells has more than doubled in the last 50 years corching summer days are now hotter than ever before. The hottest day of each year in the most recent decade was on average 1.4F (0.8C) warmer than each year's hottest days in the period 1961-1990. Also, the lowest temperatures of the year were 3.1F (1.7C) milder in the last decade than they were in the three decades up to 1990. Tropical nights - where minimum temperatures do not fall below 68F (20C) - are still rare in the UK, and are largely confined to southern England. But they are being included in the report on temperature and rainfall extremes as they are likely to become more common in the future as climate change becomes more apparent. The data show that while the 1976 heatwave is one of the most significant heatwaves for the UK, tropical nights only really start to stand out after 1995. Between 2008 and 2017 a cluster of tropical nights were recorded in the South East, the Midlands and South Wales. Dr Mark McCarthy, head of the Met Office's National Climate Information Centre which produced the report, said: 'Minimum overnight temperatures of over 20C in the UK are rare currently and even during this summer this threshold was only exceeded on a few occasions. 'However, with projections in climate suggesting warmer temperatures, it is useful to have this metric in place, so that future changes can be monitored.' Heavy rainfall is also on the increase, with extremely wet days up 17% in the period 2008-2017, compared to 1961-1990, the report showed. Dr McCarthy said: 'Monthly, seasonal and annual climate data provide a valuable record of the changing climate in the UK. 'However, these average figures have a tendency to mask extreme weather and climate events.' So the new report focuses on measures which record weather extremes to also show how the climate is changing, he said.