Summer 2026 was UK’s hottest on record, Met Office says | Science, Climate & Tech News

Summer 2026 has been declared the hottest since records began in 1884, according to provisional statistics.

It surpasses the previous record set only last year, with numerous weather records being broken repeatedly in recent years.

In 2026, the average temperature in June, July and August, throughout the day and night, was the highest ever – despite it feeling cool in areas further north and despite a chillier end to August.

It was 16.5C across night and day, beating the previous seasonal high of 16.1C set last year, the Met Office said.

The summer will be remembered for destructive wildfires, sweaty, restless nights and a landscape parched yellow by a drought covering two thirds of England and all of Wales.

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Though previous summers have reached higher temperatures temporarily, such as the 40C record in 2022, this summer was remarkable for the persistent heat.

A temperature of 30C or higher was recorded on 40 separate days, smashing the previous record of 34 days in 1995.

Millions of Britons sweltered through five widespread heatwaves, the one in June feeling more oppressive for its humidity and hot nights.

June also saw its highest ever UK temperature when a provisional record of 38C was recorded in Lingwood, Norfolk, beating the long-standing previous record from 1976 of 35.6C.

In total, 54 Met Office weather stations broke their all-time daily maximum temperature record this summer.

Driving the heat were the dry weather, long periods of high pressure and the long term impact of climate change, which is driving up baseline temperatures.

Farmers are now facing one of their worst cereal harvests on record, and thousands of extra people are estimated to have died during the May and June heatwaves.

Head of climate attribution at the Met Office Dr Mark McCarthy said, in a world unaffected by human emissions, this year’s summer in the UK would be a one-in-1,000-year event. Currently, because of the impact of emissions, he said the UK can expect this type of summer roughly once every nine years.

Met Office climate scientist Dr James Pope said this summer is typical for a world which is 2.5-3C warmer than the pre-industrial period.

While the Paris climate agreement fixed the target for climate change at a maximum of 1.5C above the pre-industrial average, there are fears that average temperatures could rise to more than that if greenhouse gas emissions are not restricted.

Dr Pope added: “If emissions of greenhouse gases are reduced and global warming is limited to 2C, this summer would still be a very hot summer. However, in a world that has warmed by 4C due to continued emissions, summer 2026 would be considered cool or below average.”

The government said the confirmation is a “brutal reminder” that the impact of climate change had arrived.

Minister for climate transition Katie White said: “Our hottest summer ever is a brutal reminder that we’re not waiting for climate change to arrive in Britain, we’re living in the middle of it.

“With kids too hot to sleep, families worrying about older relatives, farmers watching fields dry out, and firefighters and our armed forces battling wildfires, we’ve all woken up to a reality none of us wants for the people and places we love.

“That makes us more determined to act, with some of the biggest and boldest action in a generation to electrify our economy and tackle climate change with clean energy made in Britain.

“We’re seizing the opportunity to upgrade Britain, backing our best scientists, entrepreneurs and technologies to make us happier, healthier and wealthier.”