Updated: 2026-08-05
The point of measurement closest to Glasgow is the Met Office station at Paisley (Renfrewshire), situated at 32 m above sea level, about 11.4 km from the city centre. The climate in Glasgow itself can differ from what this station records — altitude, proximity to the River Clyde, and urban heat all play a role — but this is the best long-term reference we have.
Between 1 January 1914 and 4 August 2026, the absolute highest temperature ever recorded at this station was 31.0°C — reached on 5 August 1975.
That summer afternoon — 5 August 1975 — remains untouched after more than five decades. If you remember the mid-1970s as warm, the data from Paisley backs you up: no summer since has produced a higher reading at this location.
So, were summers really better when you were young? The answer, at least for the hottest moment of the year, is a qualified yes — at least relative to this one station and its 112-year record. The 31.0°C reading from 5 August 1975 stands as the ceiling for the entire period covered by the official Met Office dataset, which runs from 1914 through to the summer of 2026.
But a single day is not a summer. To really answer the question, you have to look at the whole season — the warmest afternoons, the mild nights, the general feel of June, July and August across different decades. The Paisley record gives us that long view, albeit with the caveat that it measures conditions in Renfrewshire, not in central Glasgow.
Let's put that 31.0°C into context. It was recorded on a Tuesday, 5 August 1975, during a summer that many in west-central Scotland still talk about. The reading is the highest in the station's entire history — a dataset that begins on 1 January 1914 and extends to 4 August 2026, the most recent date with data. That span covers two world wars, the post-war boom, and every heatwave of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. None of them pushed the thermometer higher at Paisley.
What makes this significant is not just the number itself, but what it represents. In recent decades, summers in the UK have generally warmed, and heatwaves have become more frequent. Yet the absolute maximum at this station has not been surpassed in over fifty years. That is not to say recent summers have been cool — they have not — but the single most extreme hot day remains a product of the mid-1970s.
The Met Office dataset for Paisley covers a remarkably continuous stretch: from 1 January 1914 right through to 4 August 2026. That is the window we are working with, and within it, the 1975 event stands alone at the top.
For anyone trying to settle an argument about "the good old summers," this is the starting point. The warmest day ever measured at the nearest station to Glasgow happened in 1975. No summer in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s or the 2020s so far has produced a higher temperature at this location.
The table below breaks down the Paisley record by decade. Each row shows the warmest day of that decade, the date it occurred, and how it compares to the all-time station maximum of 31.0°C. The data reveal how rare — and persistent — that 1975 reading is.
| Decade | Warmest day (°C) | Date of warmest day | Difference from record (°C) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 27.2 | 19 July 1918 | −3.8 |
| 1920s | 28.3 | 1 August 1928 | −2.7 |
| 1930s | 29.4 | 3 July 1934 | −1.6 |
| 1940s | 28.9 | 27 June 1941 | −2.1 |
| 1950s | 28.1 | 2 July 1957 | −2.9 |
| 1960s | 27.8 | 12 July 1961 | −3.2 |
| 1970s | 31.0 | 5 August 1975 | 0.0 |
| 1980s | 29.6 | 14 July 1983 | −1.4 |
| 1990s | 30.2 | 2 August 1995 | −0.8 |
| 2000s | 29.3 | 11 August 2003 | −1.7 |
| 2010s | 30.5 | 25 July 2019 | −0.5 |
| 2020s | 29.8 | 18 July 2022 | −1.2 |
Looking at the table, a clear pattern emerges. The 1970s stand out not just for the absolute record but for the gap between that decade and those that followed. The 2010s came closest, when 30.5°C was reached on 25 July 2019 — still half a degree short of the 1975 mark. The 1990s also came close, with 30.2°C on 2 August 1995. But no decade has matched or exceeded the 31.0°C ceiling set in 1975.
The table below summarises key summer statistics for each decade from the 1910s through the 2020s. The columns show the average maximum temperature for June, July and August (in °C), the average minimum temperature for those same months (in °C), the number of days reaching 25.0°C or higher, and the absolute highest temperature recorded in that decade (with its date).
| Decade | Avg max temp (°C) | Avg min temp (°C) | Days ≥ 25.0°C | Absolute max (°C) | Date of max |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 17.2 | 10.1 | 8 | 27.2 | 19 Jul 1918 |
| 1920s | 17.5 | 10.3 | 12 | 28.3 | 01 Aug 1928 |
| 1930s | 17.8 | 10.5 | 15 | 29.4 | 03 Jul 1934 |
| 1940s | 17.4 | 10.2 | 9 | 28.9 | 27 Jun 1941 |
| 1950s | 17.6 | 10.4 | 11 | 28.1 | 02 Jul 1957 |
| 1960s | 17.7 | 10.3 | 10 | 27.8 | 12 Jul 1961 |
| 1970s | 18.1 | 10.8 | 18 | 31.0 | 05 Aug 1975 |
| 1980s | 17.9 | 10.6 | 14 | 29.6 | 14 Jul 1983 |
| 1990s | 18.3 | 11.0 | 17 | 30.2 | 02 Aug 1995 |
| 2000s | 18.5 | 11.2 | 16 | 29.3 | 11 Aug 2003 |
| 2010s | 18.7 | 11.4 | 19 | 30.5 | 25 Jul 2019 |
| 2020s | 18.9 | 11.6 | 20 | 29.8 | 18 Jul 2022 |
These figures show more than just the single extreme days. The average maximum temperatures in June, July and August have risen steadily — from 17.2°C in the 1910s to 18.9°C in the 2020s. The average minimum temperatures have followed suit, rising from 10.1°C to 11.6°C over the same period. The number of days reaching 25.0°C has also increased, from just 8 in the 1910s to 20 in the 2020s. Yet despite this general warming, the absolute maximum has not been broken since 1975.
The chart below illustrates the key trend: the slow but steady rise in average summer temperatures (both maximum and minimum) alongside the stubbornly unbroken record high. The bars show the average maximum temperature for each decade, while the line traces the absolute maximum — the peak of which remains firmly in the 1970s.
Average maximum (June–August) vs absolute maximum (whole summer) — °C
Remember, these figures come from Paisley, not from Glasgow itself. The station sits at 32 m altitude, while parts of Glasgow are lower and closer to the river. On a hot afternoon, the city centre can feel different from the measuring site. But for a consistent, 112-year record of what a "hot day" means in this region, the Paisley data from the Met Office is the definitive source.
So the next time someone tells you summers were hotter in their day, you can point to the numbers — and to one specific afternoon: 5 August 1975, when the thermometer at Paisley reached 31.0°C, a mark that has stood for over fifty years and counting.
The record from 1975 is not an isolated curiosity — it is the capstone of a long series. The fact that it remains unbroken after all these years, through multiple notable heatwaves in the 1990s, 2003 across Europe, and the hot summers of 2018 and 2022, tells you something about how exceptional that day was. The climate has changed, but that particular ceiling at this station has held.
For travellers planning outdoor events, researchers studying local climate change, or anyone simply wondering whether summers really were better decades ago, the answer from the data is clear: the hottest single day ever recorded near Glasgow was in the summer of 1975, and no year since has matched it.
Source: Met Office (Paisley station, Renfrewshire), official records, 1914–2026.
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