In response to our warming climate, the Met Office has updated their heatwave thresholds. But is this masking the impact of climate change? Mark McCarthy explains what's really going on.

During summer heatwaves or severe winter cold spells, everybody wants to know if such high or low temperatures are unusual, or indeed record-breaking. Given that unseasonably warm and cold spells affect the UK most years, this interest in climatic extremes is nothing new. But creating the official list of daily temperature records for the UK was no easy task.

You’ve probably heard the phrase “Indian summer”, but do you know what it actually means? 

Prof Liz Bentley, Chief Executive of the Royal Meteorological Society, presents some of the key findings from the recent IPCC 6th Assessment Report

This summary of the UK's weather and climate throughout 2020 reveals the emerging influence of climate change. It is happening now, and this report helps illustrate and update the vital observational evidence.

While many of us dream of hot, summer days, the reality is that extreme heat in the UK can affect our health and infrastructure, with fatal consequences. The Met Office introduced a new warning system for extreme heat in July 2021.

Heat, drought, poor air quality, floods and wildfires are expected to worsen with climate change. Western Canada is experiencing all of these in a one week period … while attempting to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A heatwave is a prolonged period of abnormally high temperatures, relative to the expected conditions at that given time and place. The exact definition varies around the world, but all heatwaves are classed as extreme weather events.

Summary of the research article published in the RMetS International Journal of Climatology