Updated: 2026-08-09
The hottest day ever recorded at the nearest monitoring point to Glasgow — the Met Office station at Paisley, Renfrewshire — occurred on 5 August 1975. That afternoon the thermometer reached 31.0 °C, the absolute maximum temperature in a series that runs from 1914 to 2026.
That reading still stands as the highest maximum in more than a century of observations. It is a useful benchmark for anyone asking when the last heatwave truly arrived in this part of western Scotland. The answer, based on the official archive, is that the peak of the most recent notable hot spell came on that August day in 1975.
The nearest measurement point to Glasgow is the station at Paisley (Renfrewshire), situated at 32 m above sea level, about 11.4 km from the city centre. Local conditions in Glasgow — its riverside position, urban heat, and sheltered valleys — can differ from those at Paisley, so these figures are the best available reference rather than an exact measurement for every neighbourhood.
On the record day, the minimum temperature did not drop below 17.2 °C, which underlines how warm that night was. The only other day to reach 30.0 °C or more in the list of top ten hottest days are from earlier decades: 14 July 1926, 5 July 1933, 9 July 1934, 6 June 1950, 8 July 1977 and 13 July 1983 all reached 30.0 °C. More recently, 30 June 1995 reached 29.6 °C and 29 June 1995 followed with 29.5 °C.
| Date | Max °C | Min °C |
|---|---|---|
| 1975-08-05 | 31.0 | 17.2 |
| 1926-07-14 | 30.0 | 15.6 |
| 1933-07-05 | 30.0 | 12.2 |
| 1934-07-09 | 30.0 | 12.8 |
| 1950-06-06 | 30.0 | 11.7 |
Only five of the ten highest maxima are shown here; four more reached 30.0 °C (1977, 1983, 1933, 1934) and 1995 reached 29.6 °C. The full top ten is part of the Met Office series.
If you are wondering about the last heatwave in recent memory, the Paisley record shows that days at or above 28 °C (the threshold used for this series) occurred as follows in the last quarter-century:
| Year | Days ≥28°C | Yearly max (°C) |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 3 | 28.8 |
| 2004 | 1 | 28.6 |
| 2005 | 1 | 29.0 |
| 2006 | 2 | 28.4 |
| 2007 | 0 | 24.6 |
| 2008 | 0 | 26.1 |
| 2009 | 0 | 26.7 |
| 2010 | 0 | 24.6 |
| 2011 | 0 | 15.7 |
After 2006, the data show no further days above 28.0 °C up to the most recent years in the series. The last year with any such days was 2006, with two days, and the last single day was 29.0 °C in 2005.
The full series allows you to see each year's count of days at or above 28 °C and its highest maximum. The most intense periods were 1933 (5 days) and 1934 (6 days). The 1975 record day appears in a year with 2 such days. 1976 had 5 days and 1977 had 3 days. Since 1995, the only years with any days above 28 °C were 1995 (3 days), 2003 (3 days), 2004 (1 day), 2005 (1 day) and 2006 (2 days).
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 | Annual max (°C) |
|---|---|---|
| 1926 | 2 | 30.0 |
| 1933 | 5 | 30.0 |
| 1934 | 6 | 30.0 |
| 1950 | 1 | 30.0 |
| 1975 | 2 | 31.0 |
| 1977 | 3 | 30.0 |
| 2011 | 0 | 15.7 |
Source: Met Office — Paisley station, Renfrewshire. Period: 1914–2026.
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© 2026 HistoClima · data: Met Office (OGL v3.0) · not affiliated with Met Office · citation permitted with source.