High Heaton Weather and Air Quality – May 2026 

Weather

May was another month of two very different (if unequal) halves. The first three weeks were cool and wet with the wind coming mainly from the north. The temperature rarely exceeded 15°C and on some days did not even reach double figures. Almost all of the month’s rain fell in this period, with the wettest day being Sunday 3rd when 24mm was recorded. However, the last ten days of the month were very different with temperatures well above average. The temperature peaked at 29.7°C at 4pm on bank holiday Monday (25^th). This is the highest May temperature that I have ever recorded, and it beat the previous highest (in 2010) by a remarkable 2.0°C. There have been only four hotter days than this in High Heaton over the last 30 years, all of them in July or August, and all since 2022. The month’s minimum temperature was 1.5°C at 6.15am on Wednesday 6^th, and despite the cold start, May 2026 was 0.6°C warmer than the 30-year mean, with an average temperature of 12.1°C. Rainfall was 22% more than the average for May with a total of 60mm being recorded. Thunder, lightning, and hailstones were heard or observed on Thursday 14^th.

We have now reached the end of meteorological spring. All three months were much warmer than average, and in terms of the average temperature there have been only two springs warmer than this. These were in 2003 and 2025 and were only marginally warmer.  (The met office has reported that in England overall it was the warmest spring since their records began in 1884). Rainfall total was 121mm which is 90% of the average of the last 30 years.

Air Quality

The Air Quality Index was classified as ‘good’ throughout the month. The Index was at level 2 on three days and at level 1 (best) on the other 28 days. The average PM2.5 particle concentration was 5.5µg/m³ which is below WHO target of 10µg/m³ and is the lowest value since last September. The worst day was Saturday 2^nd when the average value was 16µg/m³.  The well publicised concern about the extremely high pollution level on Stephenson Road near the Corner House does not have any impact on the rest of High Heaton for reasons which I will explain next month.

John Telfer