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The climate of the Northgrippian Stage (equivalent to the Middle Holocene Subepoch) was generally a period of warmth and relative stability in the context of the Holocene. A period of maximum warming, the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM), was reached in this Stage in many regions. There is no single coherent timing of the HTM but rather a considerable difference between records and regions. While the climate of the Northgrippian Stage appears quite stable in many records, others evidence persistent climate variability within the stage. We examine evidence for the rapid climate changes, including coherent evidence for anomalies around 7.4, 6.3 and 5.2 ka associated with atmospheric circulation changes leading to spatial contrasts in temperature and precipitation anomalies over Europe. We also review evidence for a Middle Holocene Transition, expressed as threshold changes or tipping points in …