UKCP09: Summer Heatwave Duration on a 5km Grid for the UK, 1961-1990

UKCP09 5 km gridded data provides annual averages for summer heatwave duration across the United Kingdom. The dataset contains 12 files, one for each month, representing the 1961-1990 average period. It was created with support from the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and is promoted by the UK Climate Impacts Programme.

Use Cases

• Modeling historical climate trends based on gridded heatwave duration data.
• Assessing regional vulnerability to heatwaves based on 5km spatial resolution.
• Validating climate projection models against the 1961-1990 baseline period.
• Studying seasonal heatwave patterns based on monthly average data.

Strengths

• Data is spatially detailed, using a 5km grid across the UK.
• Provides a 30-year baseline climatology for the 1961-1990 period.
• Dataset is associated with the authoritative UK Met Office and UKCP09 project.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect temporal bias inherent to the specific 1961-1990 period.

Provenance

Source

Met Office (UK)

Collection Method

Gridded climate data product, part of the UK Climate Projections (UKCP09).

Time Range

1961-1990 (average period)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-08 13:30:52.437104; freshness should be verified.

Geography

United Kingdom