Updated: 2026-08-08
On 20 July 2022, Buxton recorded its hottest day in 151 years of weather records. The thermometer reached 35.9°C — a temperature that feels extraordinary for a town sitting at over 300 metres above sea level in the Peak District. That summer also delivered the highest number of extreme heat days ever seen in a single year here, with 7 days exceeding 28°C.
When we talk about extreme heat days in Buxton, we measure any day where the maximum temperature climbs above 28°C. The Met Office station record for Buxton, maintained continuously since 1875 through the MIDAS archive, shows just how rare such conditions are at this elevation. Across the full period from 1875 to 2026, the number of extreme heat days per year has ranged from 0 to 7, with many years passing without a single such day.
In a typical year, Buxton sees only a handful of days above 28°C, and some calendar years record none at all. The warmest years in the series stand out clearly: 1976 brought 2 extreme heat days, 1995 had 3, 2006 saw 4, and 2022 reached the top with 7. The year 2026, the most recent complete year in this dataset, already shows 6 days above 28°C, placing it among the most heat-intense years on record.
The five highest maximum temperatures measured at the Buxton station since 1875 are:
| Date | Maximum Temperature (°C) |
|---|---|
| 20 July 2022 | 35.9 |
| 19 July 2022 | 34.2 |
| 4 August 1990 | 32.7 |
| 25 June 2026 | 32.0 |
| 3 August 1990 | 31.0 |
The 2022 heatwave stands alone in Buxton's history. The two consecutive days on 19 and 20 July produced temperatures more than 1.7°C above anything measured before at this station. The summer of 1990 also delivered intense heat, and the very recent year of 2026 has already produced a 32.0°C day, showing that extreme heat remains a live phenomenon in the Peak District.
Extreme heat days in Buxton are exclusively a warm-season phenomenon. The Met Office data, averaged across the full period of record, shows how these days distribute across the year:
| Month | Average Days per Year Above 28°C |
|---|---|
| May | 2.0 |
| June | 1.7 |
| July | 1.5 |
| August | 1.5 |
May emerges as the month most likely to deliver extreme heat, which may surprise those who think of Buxton as a place where summer arrives late. June follows closely behind, while July and August show slightly lower averages. No extreme heat days have ever been recorded outside these four months in the station's history.
The following table shows the complete annual series for Buxton. For each year, it lists the number of days above 28°C (extreme heat), the number of days above 26°C (strong heat), and the number of days above 23°C (warm days). The final column gives the highest maximum temperature reached that year. Years with missing data are indicated as unavailable.
The chart shows the complete annual series. The table lists the most notable years; the full series comes from Met Office.
| Year | Days above 28°C | Days above 26°C | Days above 23°C | Yearly Maximum (°C) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1915 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 |
| 1943 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 30.0 |
| 1990 | 2 | 5 | 14 | 32.7 |
| 2003 | 1 | 7 | 19 | 30.7 |
| 2006 | 4 | 12 | 32 | 30.1 |
| 2022 | 7 | 10 | 16 | 35.9 |
| 2026 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 32.0 |
Looking at the series as a whole, the 19th century produced some surprisingly warm years. The year 1893 stands out with 1 extreme heat day, 8 strong heat days and 24 warm days, while 1947 delivered 1 extreme heat day alongside 23 warm days. But the most recent decades have raised the bar. The year 2022’s total of 7 extreme heat days, followed by 6 in 2026 and 3 in 2025, suggests that summers like the ones seen in 1976 and 2006 are no longer isolated events.
Buxton’s elevation and northern location make it one of the cooler spots in England, which is why extreme heat days above 28°C remain relatively uncommon. Yet the trend since the year 2000 is clear from the raw counts: years with multiple extreme heat days have become more frequent, and the absolute maximum of 35.9°C recorded in July 2022 far exceeds anything measured in the previous 147 years. For residents, gardeners, event planners and anyone who spends time outdoors in the Peak District, knowing which months tend to bring heat — and which years broke the mould — helps set realistic expectations for summer weather.
Data source: Met Office, Buxton station, period 1875–2026.
Source: Met Office station data for Buxton, 1875–2026.
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