Updated: 2026-08-08
38.1°C
was the highest temperature ever recorded at the Oxford Met Office station, reached on 20 July 2022 — the hottest day in the station's history.
On that same summer in 2022, Oxford logged 15 days with maximum temperatures above 28°C, a figure that reflects a broader trend seen across the station's record. Yet 2018 stands out even more: that year brought 23 days above 28°C, the most in the available series, alongside 80 days reaching at least 23°C and 37 days reaching at least 26°C. The second half of the 20th century and the early decades of the 21st show repeated peaks, with summers like 1976, 1995, 2003, and 2006 all standing out.
But how does one define an "extreme heat day"? The Met Office data used here applies a threshold of 28°C for daily maximum temperature. This page draws on the complete daily record from the Oxford weather station (operated by the Met Office), which spans from 1853 to 2026, covering 173 years of continuous observation. The series itself ends with data up to 30 June 2026, the latest available inclusive date in the archive.
The annual counts of days above 28°C reveal striking variability. In cool, cloudy summers like 1860, the station recorded just 1 such day. By contrast, the warm summers of 1911, 1976, 1995, and 2018 each produced 23 days above 28°C, the highest annual counts in the series. The summer of 2018 also holds the record for the most days at or above 23°C, with 80, and the most days at or above 26°C, with 37.
Look at the longer arc, however, and a different pattern emerges. Between 1853 and the 1950s, summers with fewer than 5 hot days were common — 1860 (1 day), 1879 (3 days), 1882 (7 days), 1910 (10 days), and 1920 (5 days) are typical examples. From the 1970s onward, the low end of the range rarely falls below 10 days, and years with 15 or more hot days become more frequent. The seven most recent summers on record — 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and partial 2026 — have brought 8, 11, 7, 15, 9, 8, 16, and 10 days above 28°C respectively.
The absolute record of 38.1°C on 20 July 2022 broke the previous mark of 36.5°C, set on 26 July 2019. Both dates are among the five hottest days ever measured at Oxford, alongside 36.7°C (19 July 2022), 35.1°C (4 August 1990), and 35.1°C (1 August 2020). Note that 1990's hot day occurred in early August, while the recent extremes have clustered in mid-to-late July — a seasonal shift worth watching.
The seasonal rhythm of extreme heat is concentrated in the summer months, as expected. Averaged over the full series, the monthly count of days above 28°C is:
| Month | Average days above 28°C |
|---|---|
| May | 2.0 |
| June | 2.3 |
| July | 3.8 |
| August | 3.2 |
| September | 2.0 |
| October | 2.0 |
These values are computed only for months that actually registered at least one hot day, so a cool May with zero hot days is not diluted into the average. The peak is clearly in July, which averages 3.8 such days per year, followed by August with 3.2. The fact that May and October both average 2.0 days shows that the hot season has a long tail on either side of the core summer months.
The table below lists every year from 1853 to 2026, along with three counts: days above 28°C, days at or above 23°C, and days at or above 26°C. It also gives the highest single temperature recorded each year. The range of annual maxima is revealing — from just 23.1°C in 1860 to 38.1°C in 2022. No year before 2022 ever reached even 36°C at this station; the previous 20th-century peak was 35.1°C in 1990.
The chart shows the complete annual series. The table lists the most notable years; the full series comes from Met Office.
| Year | Days >28°C | Days ≥23°C | Days ≥26°C | Max temp (°C) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1911 | 23 | 65 | 34 | 34.8 |
| 1931 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 23.9 |
| 1932 | 4 | 21 | 7 | 35.0 |
| 1990 | 8 | 48 | 22 | 35.1 |
| 2019 | 8 | 55 | 19 | 36.5 |
| 2020 | 11 | 57 | 18 | 35.1 |
| 2022 | 15 | 63 | 33 | 38.1 |
The extreme end of the distribution is tightly clustered in the past decade. The five highest daily maximum temperatures ever recorded at Oxford are:
| Date | Max temperature (°C) |
|---|---|
| 20 July 2022 | 38.1 |
| 19 July 2022 | 36.7 |
| 26 July 2019 | 36.5 |
| 4 August 1990 | 35.1 |
| 1 August 2020 | 35.1 |
Three of these five dates fall in July, two in August, and none in June or September. The two most recent summers — 2022 and 2019 — produced the three hottest individual days, all above 36°C, which had never been reached before at this station in its entire history since 1853.
The full annual table above paints a clear picture. In the 19th century, years with zero days above 28°C were not rare: 1853, 1855, 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1875, 1877, 1879, 1882, 1883, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, and 1892 all recorded none or very few. From 1900 onward, a typical year has between 2 and 8 such days, with periodic spikes — 1911 (23 days), 1947 (15 days), 1976 (21 days), 1995 (23 days), 2006 (18 days), and 2018 (23 days).
It is worth noting that the annual maximum temperature had stayed below 35°C for decades after 1990's 35.1°C, before the consecutive jumps to 36.5°C in 2019 and 38.1°C in 2022. The year 2025 also brought 16 days above 28°C, the highest count since 2018, while the partial record for 2026 (through 30 June) has already registered 10 such days and a top temperature of 34.2°C — a sign that the warm season is starting earlier.
For anyone planning outdoor events in Oxford, the message is simple: extreme heat days above 28°C are increasingly common, and the hottest afternoons are no longer a rarity. The data shows that July is the peak month, averaging nearly 4 hot days per year, and that the last decade has brought the highest temperatures ever measured at this station.
Source: Met Office (Oxford station), full series 1853–2026.
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