Extreme heat days per year in Valley

Updated: 2026-08-08

For anyone living in or visiting Valley, knowing how often the heat builds is more than a curiosity. It tells you when the air feels heavy, when the shade is scarce, and when to plan that long walk early in the morning. The Met Office’s official figures – quality‑checked and stored in the MIDAS archive – give a precise picture. Here, we define an extreme heat day as any day where the maximum temperature tops 28 °C.

On average, the warmest single day of each year lands somewhere between the high 20s and low 30s. In 1941, the hottest day of that year reached 25.6 °C; in 2026, it reached 33.9 °C. That spread of roughly 8 °C across eight decades is exactly the kind of signal that long‑term records reveal.

The hottest day in Valley’s history

The absolute maximum of 33.9 °C was measured on 24 June 2026. It is the single most extreme temperature in the station’s complete series from 1941 to 2026. The summer of 2026 already stands out: besides the all‑time record, the year recorded 12 days above 28 °C, 6 days above 26 °C, and 3 days above 30 °C – a pattern that shows a single summer can hold several distinct heat events.

Top 5 warmest days

These five dates are the only times Valley has ever crossed the 32 °C mark. Notice that four of the five have occurred since 2003 – a recent concentration of extreme highs that stands out against the earlier decades.

How many extreme heat days per year?

The annual count of days above 28 °C varies widely. The most extreme year on record is 1976, with 27 days above 28 °C. That legendary summer also produced 15 days above 26 °C and 9 days above 30 °C – a season unmatched in intensity. The second‑most intense year is 1995, with 26 hot days and 16 days above 26 °C. 1947, 2023 and 2018 each reached 15 hot days, though 1947 and 2018 had more days above 26 °C (9 and 6 respectively).

At the other end, many years record zero or very few extreme days. The entire decade from 1960 to 1969 never exceeded 9 hot days in a single year, and several years in that decade – 1962, 1966 – had none at all. The 2010s and 2020s have been more consistent, with most years registering between 2 and 15 hot days.

Full annual series (1941–2026)

When do these hot days happen?

The table below shows the average number of days per year above 28 °C for each month, across the whole record. Unsurprisingly, July and August dominate – they hold 1.9 and 1.8 such days per year respectively. June follows at 1.3, while May and September are the edges of the season, each averaging 1.0 days.

These monthly averages are not just trivia – they reflect how the sea breeze and the Atlantic influence dampen or amplify the heat. July’s 1.9 days of extreme heat are the peak of the season, but August is almost as active at 1.8 days. The shoulder months of May and September only produce about one such day per year, meaning that any 28 °C day in those months is still a rare event.

A closer look at recent years

Since 2020, Valley has seen a steady rhythm of hot days: 13 in 2020, 11 in 2021, 13 in 2022, 15 in 2023, only 3 in 2024, then 13 in 2025 and 12 in 2026 so far. That 2024 stands out as the coolest recent year – its highest temperature was 25.4 °C, the lowest annual maximum since 2011 (23.4 °C).

The new all‑time record of 33.9 °C in 2026 is not an isolated spike. It comes in a decade where four of the last six years have exceeded 30 °C at least once. But it is also worth remembering the earlier era: 1976’s 27 hot days remains the highest annual count on record, and it took 19 years for any year to match its intensity (1995 reached 26).

Source: Met Office (Valley station, 1941–2026)

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