Friday, 22 May 2026

Hot, Warm or Very Warm?

My Phone is telling me that it is 21°C today but over the next few days it could hit 31°C and technically for Spring that is 'Very Warm' but next week it would officially 'Hot'.
The Met Office has a classification of Terms used to indicate temperature which is basically how much above the average temperature for the season it is hence as May is Spring still, 31°C is  more than 7°C above the average of 18°C hence 'Very Warm' but in June, when it is Meteorological Summer, it will be 6°C above the average of 25°C hence it is 'Hot'.
Today at 21°C it is officially 3°C above the 18°C Spring average so they call it 'Rather Warm' which is the top rating for Spring but as we are heading towards Summer, when would we be technically correct for the temperature of the day?
The Average for a UK Summer is 25°C so anything from 33°C upwards is classified as 'Very Hot', 31°C/32°C is 'Hot', 29°C/30°C is 'Very Warm', 27°C /28°C is 'Warm', 26°C to 24°C is 'Normal', 22°C/23°C is 'Rather Cool', 20°C/21°C is 'Cool' and any days below 19°C are 'Very Cool'.
So now you know and you have the perfect answer to the idiot we get every Summer who says 'Hot Enough For Ya' by answering: 'Actually as it's 28°C today, technically it's not Hot, it's Warm Enough For Ya' which will leave you feeling an immense sense of inner pride.