Days above 35°C in Waddington — how often extreme heat occurs

Updated: 2026-08-08

Waddington, a village in Lincolnshire with a long-running Met Office weather station, has recorded remarkably few days of extreme heat since observations began in 1949. In the 77 years between 1949 and 2026, the station has registered extremely hot days — defined as daily maximum temperatures reaching at least 35°C — in only two years. This makes Waddington a useful location for understanding how rare such conditions are in the eastern Midlands of England.

The year 2022 stands out as the most extreme in Waddington's observing history for heat frequency. That year brought two separate days where the thermometer climbed past the 35°C threshold. This is the only year since 1949 to have recorded more than one such day. The previous year with any days above 35°C was 2019, which saw exactly one day at or above that mark, when the temperature reached 35.1°C.

For most residents in Waddington and the surrounding Lincolnshire countryside, temperatures above 35°C are something they will rarely encounter. The annual average number of days above 35°C per decade tells a clear story: from the 1940s through the 2000s, the average was 0.0 days per year. In the 2010s, that average crept up to 0.1 days per year, and in the 2020s so far, it stands at 0.3 days per year. While these numbers remain small in absolute terms, the shift from 0.0 to 0.3 days per year is worth noting.

To put this in perspective, consider what the typical summer at Waddington looks like. The highest temperature reached in most years falls well short of the 35°C threshold. For example, in 2026, the maximum temperature so far has been 28.1°C. In 2025, it was 32.6°C. Even in the warm summer of 2023, the peak was 31.0°C. These figures show that while Waddington can get warm, it rarely reaches the kind of extreme heat that makes headlines in southern Europe or even parts of southern England.

Annual count of extreme heat days at Waddington (1949–2026)

The chart below shows the yearly maximum temperature for each year, with the number of days above 35°C indicated for those years when they occurred. The table lists the full series of annual data.

The 2022 heatwave in context

The two extreme heat days in 2022 occurred during a remarkable spell that affected much of England. On 19 July 2022, Waddington recorded its all-time highest temperature since the station opened: 40.3°C. This was the first time the station had ever exceeded the 40°C mark, and it remains the hottest day on record at this location. The same heatwave also produced the highest yearly maximum temperatures in the series, surpassing the previous most extreme reading of 35.1°C in 2019.

What makes the Waddington record so noteworthy is how sudden the increase appears when viewed across decades. For seven consecutive decades — from the 1940s to the 2000s — the station never recorded a single day above 35°C. The notion of a "heatwave" at Waddington was, for much of the 20th century, a purely hypothetical concept. Then, within the span of four years, the station recorded its two hottest days ever, including one that broke the 40°C barrier.

What this means for Waddington residents

For anyone living in Waddington or planning a visit, the practical takeaway is simple: extreme heat is rare but not impossible. The 2022 event showed that even locations in the East Midlands, far from the typically hotter southeast of England, can experience temperatures that challenge infrastructure designed for milder conditions. The average annual count of days above 35°C at Waddington, across the full 1949–2026 period, works out to well under one day per year. But the trend in the most recent decades points upward: from 0.1 days per year in the 2010s to 0.3 days per year in the 2020s.

These averages, drawn from the complete daily record, give a more nuanced picture than simply noting that Waddington is not a hot place. The station has seen large year-to-year swings. The warmest year before 2019 was 1990, when the maximum temperature reached 34.8°C — just 0.2°C short of the 35°C threshold. In 2020, the peak was 33.7°C, and in 2015 it was 33.1°C. These near-misses illustrate how close Waddington has come to registering extreme heat days far more often than the actual count of zero in most years suggests.

Source: Met Office — Waddington station, 1949–2026.

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