SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

With the current hot spell set to continue through the weekend (at least), it seemed a good time to see just how hot it's got in Leeds.Myweather states that "Throughout the month of July daytime temperatures will generally reach highs of around 22°C that's about 71°F", so we're averaging well ahead of that this week with a peak of 27°C so far according to several websitesWiki goes on to advise that "temperatures reached 31.8 °C (89 °F) at Leeds city centre in August 2003. The record temperature for Leeds is 34.4 °C (94 °F) during the early August 1990 heatwave."Those are temperatures in the shade too, so if you're out and about in the mid day sun, it will be a whole lot hotter. At Temple Newsam this weekend, I got a reading of a whopping 46°C in the sun, which is around 115°FAnd if all that seems too blooming warm, just remember that temperatures at Leeds Bradford Airport fell to -12.6 °C (9.3 °F) in December 2010!

It sure is hot recently! The ground needs a good downpour to refresh it as many plants/trees seem to be struggling. I've just had a look at some bits in John Mayhall's 'Annals of Yorkshire' and under July 15 1868 it states "In London, and in other parts of England, the temperature was unusually hot; the register in some parts of Yorkshire being as high as 127 degrees in the sun". For July 22 1868 it stated "The excessive heat still continued. in Leeds, with the thermometer registering a maximum of 105 degrees, difficulty in going about ordinary avocations...".

Leodian wrote: It sure is hot recently! The ground needs a good downpour to refresh it as many plants/trees seem to be struggling. I've just had a look at some bits in John Mayhall's 'Annals of Yorkshire' and under July 15 1868 it states "In London, and in other parts of England, the temperature was unusually hot; the register in some parts of Yorkshire being as high as 127 degrees in the sun". For July 22 1868 it stated "The excessive heat still continued. in Leeds, with the thermometer registering a maximum of 105 degrees, difficulty in going about ordinary avocations...". I was at Stamford Bridge at the weekend and it was very hot, but we had two torrential downpours at Saturday lunchtime and during Saturday afternoon, but once it had gone the ground hardly seemed to be wet.

Good post Ravey, I was thinking of starting a similar one the last few days, I thought it would be a good idea to 'maybe' record another potential 1976 in the making. Some photos of what people are doing, the garden growing, or the grass dying like Leo mentions e.t.c. Glad you did it though, because basically I just couldn't be bothered. This kind of weather zaps the energy out of you for sure The Leeds 16 day weather forecast is here.http://www.theweatheroutlook.com/forecast/uk/LeedsIt's been pretty spot on since I started using it last year.    

That's a problem when the ground is so dry that rain simply runs away as little soaks in. A long spell of moderate rain will probably be better. Oddly, a small stream (Nanny Beck) in North Leeds is still carrying a reasonable flow despite the local long dry spell. I suspect that much of the water may come from water draining away from gardens being watered. PS. In his post above Phill states "This kind of weather zaps the energy out of you for sure" is so true. I think my ancestors evolved for cold climates!    

I recall 76 with ladybirds. Back then we were thankful for electric John Smiths Youth of today etc etc, lol.Cats are lethargic and unpredictable..

Jogon wrote: I recall 76 with ladybirds. Back then we were thankful for electric John Smiths Youth of today etc etc, lol.Cats are lethargic and unpredictable.. Saw a grasshopper today in my garden! Haven't seen one since'76,so it must be hot!

stutterdog wrote: Jogon wrote: I recall 76 with ladybirds. Back then we were thankful for electric John Smiths Youth of today etc etc, lol.Cats are lethargic and unpredictable.. Saw a grasshopper today in my garden! Haven't seen one since'76,so it must be hot! I haven't seen a space hopper sit on bouncy thing for ages!

Can I just state that this is NOT a heatwave, it's SUMMER. We ain't had one for years so have forgotten what they're like. Loads of peeps on Facebook are moaning that the 'Heatwave' is too much now. It's Summer, deal with it. Moan when it's cold, moan when it rains, moan when it's hot.

Jogon wrote: I recall 76 with ladybirds. Back then we were thankful for electric John Smiths Youth of today etc etc, lol.Cats are lethargic and unpredictable.. I remember 76 too, I think that's when everyone started drinking Lager.