High Heaton Weather and Air Quality – June 2026

Weather

June was yet another month of two distinct halves. The temperature did not reach 20°C during the first 15 days, but it exceeded 20°C on all of the other 15 days. The definition of a heatwave in our area is three consecutive days when the temperature exceeds 25°C, and this is quite rare.  However, in June we experienced five such consecutive days from Tuesday 23rd to Saturday 27th. The Tuesday was the hottest day with the temperature reaching 30.4°C at 5.30pm. There have been only three hotter days than this in at least the last 35 years, all of them since 2022. Nationally, the all-time June temperature record was broken, but in High Heaton we did not quite reach the remarkable 30.7°C recorded last year. The evenings were also unusually warm, and through the night of the 25th/26th the temperature did not fall below 18°C. The average temperature for the month was 16.0°C, which despite the cool start is an enormous 2.5°C above the mean for June, with last year being the only warmer June at 16.1°C.  The month’s minimum temperature was 7.1°C at 5am on Wednesday 10th. Loud claps of thunder accompanied by lightning were heard on Friday morning the 26th with further thunder in the afternoon. Some heavy rain showers fell on both occasions, but we escaped the torrential rain and flooding which was experienced just a few miles away in the late afternoon.  Our wettest day was Monday 1st when 17mm was recorded, and the total rain for the month was 51mm which is 85% of the average for June.

Air Quality

The average PM2.5 particle concentration was 3.5 µg/m3 which is the lowest figure I have recorded since I began measuring air quality five years’ ago. This is well below the WHO target of 10 µg and the UK target of 25µg. The Air Quality Index was at level 2 on two days and at level 1 (best) on the other 28 days. Therefore, all days were well within the ‘good’ classification. Our air quality is usually good, so how is it that the air quality as close as Stephenson Road at its junction with Jesmond Park West is the worst in the city? There are several pollutants that can reduce air quality, but in non-industrial environments there are only two likely causes – particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide gas. Nitrogen dioxide is emitted by diesel engines, and at the Stephenson Road site it has been measured at over eight times the WHO recommended limit. This is because of the steep hill and the regular presence of stationary traffic at that site. Nitrogen dioxide exacerbates asthma and raises the risk of lung cancer.  However, the good news is that the level of nitrogen dioxide falls off very rapidly with distance from the source, and so not even the residential properties at the foot of Jesmond Park West are at risk. So, in our area of High Heaton it is only the 2.5-micron particulate matter that contributes to air pollution.

John Telfer