John Hammond returned to Birmingham for the first time in over 20 years (he took the MSc in Applied Meteorology and Climatology in 1988/89) when he kindly opened two new important Birmingham Weather stations this week. The first is in Paradise Circus in the city centre and the second is on a new Winterbourne site on campus. The difference in air temperature between the two sites is representative of the strength of Birmingham’s Urban Heat Island at any given time.
Last Monday night there was a 4 degree Celsius difference between the two sites. This means that heat stress is compounded in the City centre where many vulnerable people live.
The results will be displayed on the new BUCCANEER web site developed in the School for Birmingham City Council as part of a KTP award. The sites will also be part of the new NERC funded HiTemp urban climate network that, over the next two years, will give Birmingham the densest urban climate network in the world.
The two new sites will be maintained by the Met Office and were part funded by the Environment Agency and Birmingham City council.