Updated: 2026-07-31
The point of measurement closest to London is the Met Office station at High Beach, in the county of Essex, situated at an altitude of 110 m, about 20.8 km away. The urban centre of London can record different values due to the heat island effect, proximity to the River Thames, and local shelter — but this is the nearest official thermometer, and its records are the best reference available.
The last heatwave to hit the London area left its mark at High Beach on 19 July 2022, when the thermometer reached 38.8 °C maximum temperature — the hottest day ever recorded in the entire 1978–2025 series at this station. The minimum that day was 19.0 °C, offering little overnight relief.
The 2022 heatwave was not a one-day event. The day before, on 18 July 2022, the station recorded 36.5 °C, with a minimum of 14.6 °C. Two consecutive days above 36 °C had never been seen at High Beach before, and the record set on 19 July 2022 still stands — no later year has come close to beating it.
Before 2022, the highest temperature at this station dated back to the August 2003 heatwave: 11 August 2003 reached 36.7 °C, with the minimum not available in the record. That 2003 figure was itself a milestone — the first time High Beach had exceeded 36 °C. The 2022 event broke it by a margin that no other day in 48 years of data has matched, pushing the station's all-time maximum to 38.8 °C.
The full top-10 list of daily maximum temperatures shows how rare these extremes are. Only five calendar days in the entire series surpass 35 °C, and three of them are concentrated in summer 2022 and summer 2020:
| Date | Max temp (°C) | Min temp (°C) |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-07-19 | 38.8 | 19.0 |
| 2003-08-11 | 36.7 | not available |
| 2022-07-18 | 36.5 | 14.6 |
| 2019-07-25 | 36.4 | 18.2 |
| 2020-07-31 | 35.6 | 15.1 |
The remaining five days of the top 10 complete the picture: 7 August 2003 hit 35.0 °C (minimum not available), 4 August 1990 reached 34.7 °C with a minimum of 16.5 °C, 7 August 2020 recorded 34.6 °C with 13.7 °C, 12 August 2020 reached 33.8 °C with a minimum of 19.4 °C, and 5 August 1990 saw 33.7 °C with a minimum of 13.0 °C. The cluster of dates in late July and early August confirms that this station's extreme heat arrives in midsummer, as expected.
The series is remarkably quiet for long stretches. From the start of the record on 1 August 1978 through the end of 2002, High Beach never once reached 35 °C in a single day. The maximum annual temperature in those first 25 years peaked at 34.7 °C in 1990, with 1989 close behind at 32.2 °C and 1995 at 32.8 °C. Then 2003 changed the picture with 2 days at or above 35 °C. After another quiet decade, 2019 delivered 1 such day, 2020 added 1 more, and 2022 brought 2 days — including the all-time record. The annual table below shows the full picture, including the maximum temperature recorded each year and the count of days at or above 35 °C.
The chart shows the complete annual series. The table lists the most notable years; the full series comes from Met Office.
| Year | Days ≥35 °C | Annual max temp (°C) |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 0 | 34.7 |
| 2003 | 2 | 36.7 |
| 2006 | 0 | 33.7 |
| 2007 | 0 | 24.4 |
| 2019 | 1 | 36.4 |
| 2020 | 1 | 35.6 |
| 2022 | 2 | 38.8 |
Reading the full series, one clear feature stands out: the days at or above 35 °C are not spread evenly across the decades. The entire period from 1978 to 2002 produced zero such days, despite several warm summers (1990 came closest with an annual maximum of 34.7 °C). The 2003 heatwave was a step change, adding 2 days. Then 2019, 2020 and 2022 each contributed, with 2022 tying 2003 for the highest annual count at 2 days while also delivering the individual record of 38.8 °C. Since 1978, the station has recorded 6 days at or above 35 °C in total, and the most recent of those was on 19 July 2022 — more than three years without a repeat as of the end of the available record.
For anyone in London asking when the last heatwave was, the answer from the nearest official thermometer is clear: 19 July 2022, with 38.8 °C at High Beach, and the preceding day at 36.5 °C. It is the hottest spell this station has ever measured, and it has not been matched since.
Source: Met Office — High Beach station (Essex), daily observations, 1978–2025.
HistoClima Tools: discover the weather on the day you were born, your wedding day, or your birthday-week statistics.
AI-assisted content from official Met Office data, automatically verified. 🤖 IA-assisted content · Art. 50 EU AI Act
© 2026 HistoClima · data: Met Office (OGL v3.0) · not affiliated with Met Office · citation permitted with source.