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Jersey Met has adopted the same definition of a heatwave as its UK counterpart… although there’s no immediate sign of the island passing the new threshold.
If the maximum temperature passes 28°C for three consecutive days, a heatwave will now officially be in progress, it has been confirmed.
The previous definition for Jersey required there to be five consecutive days with temperatures at least 5°C above average.
Paul Aked, Head of Meteorology, said: “We've talked about this since last summer's high temperatures, and believe that bringing us in line with the UK results in a better and simpler system.”
What is a heatwave? We've made a change to the way we talk about heatwaves in the Channel Islands, in line with the criteria used for the UK. pic.twitter.com/9LiYvlOCAn
— Jersey Met (@Jersey_Met) June 16, 2023
The island has seen maximum temperatures just short of the threshold in recent days.
Mr Aked said there was no current indication of maximum temperatures passing 28°C over the next six days, but that the island would now be ready should temperatures rise later in the summer.
Under the new definition, there were three separate periods of heatwave during the summer of 2022, including an all-time record peak of 37.9°C on 18 July.
The island's longest heatwaves on record are six days, recorded in July and August 1995 and again in July 1983.
Jersey has seen 26 periods of heatwave since temperature records began at Maison St. Louis Observatory in St. Helier in 1894, 10 of which have occurred since 2000.
The UK Met Office utilises different regional thresholds for its heatwave definition. The limit is 25°C for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the north of England, 26°C for areas in central, west and south-west England and either 27°C or 28°C for London and the south-east.
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