UK Logs Hottest Summer on Record at 16.5C as 40 Days Topped 30C
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Sep 1
UK Logs Hottest Summer on Record at 16.5C as 40 Days Topped 30C
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Sep 1
Summary
Provisional Met Office data put the UK's June-August 2026 mean temperature at 16.5C, the highest in records dating to 1884.
Five widespread heatwaves and persistent high pressure drove the extreme season, with human-caused climate change making this summer's heat 130 times more likely, the Met Office said.
40 days above 30C smashed the previous record of 34, while 10 days above 35C doubled the old mark and three days above 37C set another record.
England, Wales and Northern Ireland each set summer mean-temperature records, while Scotland had its joint-sixth warmest summer; the peak temperature reached 38.1C at Kew Gardens on Aug. 13.
The heat unfolded alongside drought across all of Wales and more than two-thirds of England, wildfires that destroyed 19 homes in Stourbridge, and late-August flooding after wetter weather returned.