AFTER a largely disappointing summer, Jersey could be in the midst of its first heatwave of the year – in autumn…
And Islanders still have time to carry on basking in the sunshine, with temperatures expected to stay above 28°C until Saturday.
Jersey Met duty forecaster Matt Winter said: ‘Normally, at this point in the year, the temperature is on average around 21°C.
‘The temperatures in the forecast, until Saturday, go into the high 20s.’
The temperature is expected to hit 29°C today.
Mr Winter added that Sunday was forecast to hit 26°C, but ‘Monday and Tuesday next week will be back down to about average’.
The hottest day of the year so far was Friday 7 July (29.6°C), but a heatwave was not declared then as the days before and after were milder – Thursday 6 July reached 23.8°C and Saturday 8 July reached 25.2°C.
Jersey’s hottest-ever September day was recorded on 1 September 1906, when the temperature reached 33.3°C.
The meteorological summer – lasting from 1 June to 31 August – saw normal temperatures with an average of 18.1°C but it was much wetter than usual, with around 200mm of rainfall (compared to a long-term average of 158mm).
What makes a heatwave?
Jersey Met introduced its new definition of a heatwave in June this year, aligning itself with its UK counterpart.
Under this definition, a heatwave is in progress when three days in a row reach 28°C. Under the previous system, a heatwave was declared when five consecutive days were 5°C warmer than average.
