Another standout during this remarkable year, there was an exceptional heatwave for October during 1921. The heatwave began around the 3rd and lasted to about the 11th as a southerly flow flooded the UK. Biarritz recorded a maximum of 33.9C on the 4th. Maxima got into the 20Cs, with the peak of the heatwave on the 5th and 6th. The air temperature at 5000ft was 15.6C

Here are the highest maxima that were recorded on these dates

4th: 27.2C
5th: 28.9C
6th: 28.9C
7th: 26.7C
8th: 25.6C
9th: 27.8C
10th: 25.6C

It was somewhat cooler during the second half of October 1921 although the 18th and 19th were pretty warm days. It was until 1969, the warmest October on record and it was a fairly dry month.

The CET mean for the period 4th-11th October 1921 was 17.4 and the CET maximum mean from 1st-11th October was 20.3C

In Beauvais, a third crop of hay was cut, fig trees in Geneva yielded a second crop 

 

CET trackometer

1.  12.2
2.  12.7
3.  14.0
4.  14.8
5.  15.3
6.  16.0
7.  16.1
8.  16.2
9.  16.3
10. 16.5
11. 16.5
12. 16.3
13. 16.0
14. 15.8
15. 15.4
16. 15.1
17. 14.9
18. 14.9
19. 15.0
20. 14.7
21. 14.5
22. 14.3
23. 14.0
24. 13.6
25. 13.3
26. 13.2
27. 13.2
28. 13.0
29. 13.0
30. 12.9
31. 12.8

CET maximum trackometer

1.  19.2
2.  19.4
3.  19.0
4.  19.5
5.  20.3
6.  21.0
7.  20.9
8.  20.9
9.  20.9
10. 21.2
11. 21.2
12. 20.7
13. 20.6
14. 20.1
15. 19.9
16. 19.7
17. 19.6
18. 19.8
19. 19.7
20. 19.3
21. 19.0
22. 18.8
23. 18.4
24. 18.0
25. 17.8
26. 17.6
27. 17.5
28. 17.5
29. 17.3
30. 17.2
31. 17.1

 

From the Guardian of October 1921

5th https://i.imgur.com/3gizT3V.jpg  https://i.imgur.com/R9uQVUB.jpg 

6th https://i.imgur.com/aQJ9l4T.jpg  https://i.imgur.com/wqW0R8o.jpg  https://i.imgur.com/zEagd6v.jpg 

7th https://i.imgur.com/k1BFN0R.jpg  https://i.imgur.com/P9xDrKT.jpg 

8th https://i.imgur.com/50Be0Sz.jpg 

9th https://i.imgur.com/I0Cewa6.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Yq3gIjs.jpg 

10th https://i.imgur.com/xdBGGBb.jpg https://i.imgur.com/4MHE5g8.jpg

11th https://i.imgur.com/gwYdnGW.jpg 

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Part of a very remarkable autumn as a whole. It's one I covered in one of my historic videos. September was exceptionally dry, October warm and November was cold.

The 28.9°C on the 5th and 6th held the October record until 1985, and later 2011. As well as being one of the warmest, I believe October 1921 is still one of the sunniest on record too.

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It makes me wonder what the highest possible CET mean possible is for October - I gather the highest atm is 13.7C

I reckon from reading this excellent thread that it is possible to get a CET in excess of 15C for October if the right conditions prevailed.

 

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Another great bit of archiving by Kevin Bradshaw here.

I'll leave this on here for a few days before moving it to the classic thread section.

 

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out of curiosity

How do we know these were the pressure patterns ? What records are these based on?

Would really like to know. Obvs there was SOME weather recording going on, but enough to built a chart from - ie over the sea?

How were the GFS archives pulled together?

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I suppose it's a lot like December 2015. Who would have thought we would have got a December pushing on for 10°C? I think given the right conditions, virtually every month could push well above their current records.

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Truly great material from the archives there.
Particularly interesting to see the newspapers mentioning ‘Black bulb’ (solar maximum) temps, which I’ve never heard of, sunsets at 5.30pm before daylight saving was introduced. Also the line ‘for every 10 miles north of Manchester the sun sets 9 seconds earlier’, plus legally enforced ‘lamp-time’ for vehicles.

Is history about to repeat itself in 2021.So far it's the same this September,warm and very dry.

Not if you go by the latest output. Looking rather wet first week of October. Could improve gradually but once summer has waved goodbye this time of year, you’ve usually had yer lot!