Last Heatwave in Leeds: When the Thermometer Hit 34.4°C

Data updated: 9 August 2026

The day after, on 3 August 1990, the mercury climbed again to 34.2°C, with an even warmer night—the minimum stayed at 19.4°C. Together, these two consecutive days represent the most intense heat spike of the entire two-decade period at this station. It remains the last time Leeds saw temperatures reach this level, and no subsequent year in the record came close to matching it.

To put that in perspective: the hottest day in 2004, the final year of the period, never reached the 28°C threshold that defines an extreme heat day in this analysis. The station's data for 2004 shows no maximum temperature reading, indicating that the year ended without a single day hitting that mark. The last genuine heatwave event for Leeds, based on this record, is firmly tied to early August 1990.

The Ten Hottest Days in Leeds (1985–2004)

These are the ten highest maximum temperatures recorded at Leeds Weather Centre between November 1985 and August 2004. Notice how the top two days, both from August 1990, stand more than two degrees above everything else in the list:

Beyond the exceptional August 1990 episode, the list shows clusters of hot days in the mid-1990s, particularly in August 1995, and a notable spike in August 2003 — the summer when much of Europe suffered severe heat. In Leeds, 9 August 2003 reached 31.8°C, the third-hottest day of the entire period, though still 2.6 degrees below the 1990 record.

Hot Days Per Year: How Often Leeds Crossed 28°C

The following table shows how many days each year saw the maximum temperature reach or exceed 28°C, alongside the single highest maximum for that year. The data begins in November 1985 and runs through August 2004, covering 19 complete or partial years:

The year 1995 stands out dramatically: 16 days reached or exceeded 28°C, more than twice as many as any other year in the series. That summer included three of the top-ten hottest days listed above—11 August, 21 August, and 30 July, all reaching 31.1°C or 31.0°C. The summer of 1995 was a notable heat event for the UK, and Leeds experienced it intensely.

But even that remarkable year didn't produce the record. The 34.4°C of 2 August 1990 remains isolated at the top, five years before the next closest competitor at 31.8°C in 2003. For anyone asking when the last heatwave truly hit Leeds, the answer is clear: early August 1990, when the city sweltered through two consecutive days above 34°C — a level not seen again in the following 14 years of data.

For context on the surrounding decade, the period from 1986 through 1992 shows only intermittent hot days—one per year in 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1991, with a notable jump to 8 days in 1989 and 6 days in 1990. Then came 1993 and 1994 with very few, before the extraordinary summer of 1995. The pattern suggests heatwaves in Leeds come in bursts, not as a steady trend, and the 1990 event stands as a unique milestone that residents still reference over three decades later.

Source: Met Office — Leeds Weather Centre station, daily records from 1985–2004. Data provided under the Open Government Licence (OGL v3.0) via the MIDAS archive.

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