Updated: 2026-09-26
The record was set on 20 July 2022, during the exceptional heatwave that swept across southern England. That day, the minimum temperature held at 18.8°C, and the daily mean reached 28.5°C — figures more typical of a Mediterranean summer than an English one.
Oxford's long weather record, maintained by the Met Office and stretching back to 1854, shows how rare extreme heat has been in this part of Oxfordshire. The all-time high of 38.1°C was not just a single-day anomaly: the day before, on 19 July 2022, the thermometer climbed to 36.7°C. Those two consecutive days stand as the two hottest days ever recorded at the station.
The table below lists the five highest daily maximum temperatures recorded at the Oxford station since observations began. Two of these occurred within a 48-hour period in July 2022, and two others are separated by three decades — a reminder that extreme heat in Oxford is rare and tends to cluster in brief, intense episodes.
| Date | Maximum temperature | Minimum temperature | Daily mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 July 2022 | 38.1°C | 18.8°C | 28.5°C |
| 19 July 2022 | 36.7°C | 17.9°C | 27.3°C |
| 26 July 2019 | 36.5°C | 18.3°C | 27.4°C |
| 4 August 1990 | 35.1°C | 18.9°C | 27.0°C |
| 1 August 2020 | 35.1°C | 14.5°C | 24.8°C |
Note the tie at 35.1°C: 4 August 1990 and 1 August 2020 both reached the same maximum, though the 1990 day had a notably warmer overnight minimum and therefore a higher daily mean.
July is, unsurprisingly, the month with the highest all-time maximum, but other months have also produced remarkable heat. February's record of 18.8°C, for example, is warmer than a typical April afternoon in Oxford. The table shows, for each month, the average daily maximum across the full period and the highest maximum ever recorded in that month.
| Month | Average daily maximum | Record maximum | Average daily minimum | Average daily mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.8°C | 15.9°C | 1.5°C | 4.1°C |
| February | 7.5°C | 18.8°C | 1.6°C | 4.6°C |
| March | 10.0°C | 22.6°C | 2.5°C | 6.3°C |
| April | 13.1°C | 26.8°C | 4.4°C | 8.7°C |
| May | 16.6°C | 30.6°C | 7.2°C | 11.9°C |
| June | 19.9°C | 34.3°C | 10.3°C | 15.1°C |
| July | 21.8°C | 38.1°C | 12.3°C | 17.1°C |
| August | 21.4°C | 35.1°C | 12.1°C | 16.7°C |
| September | 18.7°C | 33.4°C | 10.0°C | 14.4°C |
| October | 14.4°C | 27.2°C | 7.0°C | 10.7°C |
| November | 9.9°C | 18.9°C | 3.8°C | 6.9°C |
| December | 7.6°C | 15.9°C | 2.2°C | 4.9°C |
July's average daily maximum of 21.8°C is the highest of any month, but the record of 38.1°C shows how far above the norm the 2022 heatwave pushed temperatures. Even September has produced a reading of 33.4°C, demonstrating that late summer can occasionally deliver real heat to the city.
The chart below shows the highest maximum temperature recorded in each complete year of the station's record, from 1854 to 2022. The general upward drift in recent decades is visible, with the top three years all falling in the twenty-first century. Some years, such as 2021 with a maximum of 31.3°C, never reached the heights of 2022, while 1931 — a notably cool summer — topped out at just 23.9°C.
The chart shows the complete annual series. The table lists the most notable years; the full series comes from Met Office.
| Year | Highest maximum | Average daily maximum | Lowest minimum |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 32.9°C | 14.5°C | -4.1°C |
| 1982 | 28.7°C | 14.3°C | -16.6°C |
| 1988 | 28.2°C | 13.8°C | -3.8°C |
| 1998 | 29.3°C | 14.8°C | -3.5°C |
| 2005 | 31.2°C | 15.2°C | -4.2°C |
| 2013 | 31.6°C | 14.3°C | -4.1°C |
| 2020 | 35.1°C | 15.9°C | -2.5°C |
The yearly table also reveals the cold side of Oxford's climate: the lowest minimum on record for a complete year was -16.6°C in 1982, while 1947 saw the mercury fall to -16.1°C. The contrast between a summer peak of 38.1°C and a winter low of -16.6°C — more than 54 degrees of separation — is a measure of the range this inland southern England site can experience.
Source: Met Office MIDAS archive, Oxford station. Complete annual series 1854–2022. Station elevation: 63 m.
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© 2026 HistoClima · data: Met Office (OGL v3.0) · not affiliated with Met Office · citation permitted with source.