UK Summer 2026 Heads for Record 16.48C Mean as 38C Heat Threatens Again
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 11
UK Summer 2026 Heads for Record 16.48C Mean as 38C Heat Threatens Again
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 11
Summary
The Met Office said the UK needs only average weather through the rest of August for summer 2026 to overtake last year's record 16.10C mean temperature.
Provisional data put the June 1-Aug. 10 summer mean at 16.48C—1.88C above the 1991-2020 average—after repeated heatwaves and 37 consecutive days with heatwave conditions somewhere in the UK.
Temperatures have already hit 38C at Lingwood in Norfolk on June 26, and an amber extreme-heat warning covers parts of England on Thursday with 38C possible again.
The heat has coincided with exceptional dryness: July was the driest on record in England and Wales, drought has been declared in more than two-thirds of England and all of Wales, and 27 million people face water restrictions.
The Met Office said the pattern fits long-standing climate warnings, with fossil-fuel-driven warming making UK summers hotter, drier and more likely to produce extreme heat.