Blackpool Squires Gate WMO 03318 – Strictly on the Coast of North West England

53.77633 -3.03828 Met Office CIMO Assessed Class 4. Archived Temperature records from 1957

The Central England Temperature record is the world’s oldest continuous running temperature record. Originally an independently compiled series it was subsequently taken over by the Met Office though for a period the Vice President of the Royal Meteorological Society (the late Philip Eden) ran a separate series he felt better reflected the original ethos. Only a few sites were ever included in compiling the series over any given period with the intention of reflecting the monthly mean surface air temperatures for the general “Midland” region of England – hence the term “Central England”. Quite how the coastal resort of Blackpool with a station only recording temperature from 1957 was included in the CET for a period from 1959 to 2004 completely baffles me.

There have been many “iterations” of the CET data and the multiple historical adjustments over recent years have caused extensive controversy and suggestions of data manipulation. Whilst these “numeric” adjustments are currently outside the scope of the Surface Stations Project, the inclusion of an extreme coastal aviation site warrants close inspection – Blackpool is most certainly not Central England by any stretch of the imagination.

The headline image shows the well kept but unnatural environment typical of aviation sites being flat, well drained and with close cropped grass. The wider view depicts the unquestionable Urban Heat Island effects in addition to the airfield setting alongside the control tower buildings and in further addition to the coastal proximity of this warmer waters major seaside resort location.

To be blunt, I cannot imagine many other possible locations less suitable to be included in the Central England Temperature series than this one. I welcome anyone’s views with a plausible positive explanation for this site’s inclusion if such a reason exists. For my part I can only see this site leading to an inappropriate uplift in average CET temperatures by careful selection of a warmer coastal site. The inclusion of this Class 4 unrepresentative site in any national or even regional historic temperature record is unacceptable.