The UK recorded its hottest summer on record in 2026, the British Met Office said on Tuesday. This is the second consecutive record-hot summer for the country.
A study by Met Office scientists found that the likelihood of such a record-hot summer is about 130 times higher due to “climate change caused by human activity”. The average temperature this summer was 16.5°C, making it the warmest on record and the warmest season in the UK since records began in 1884.
This surpasses the previous record of 16.1°C, set in 2025. The next three hottest summers were in 2018, 2006, and 2003, with an average seasonal temperature of 15.7°C.
Regional records and climate change impact
England, Wales, and Northern Ireland also recorded their hottest summers on record, while Scotland experienced its sixth hottest summer during this period. England also saw its warmest June and driest July, with only 6.5 mm of rainfall for the entire month.
The UK, like much of Europe, has experienced a series of severe heatwaves and droughts over the past few months. Temperatures reached 38.1°C in London’s Kew Gardens on August 13.
“These records are now being set more and more frequently, reflecting the impact of human-induced climate change on the temperatures we are seeing in the UK”, said Amy Dougherty, who heads the Met Office’s National Climate Information Centre. She added that it is particularly notable how much the summer average temperature exceeded the previous record, set just last year.
Mark McCarthy, head of the Met Office’s climate attribution team, said that in a climate unaffected by human greenhouse gas emissions, such a summer would have been extremely unlikely—about once in over 1,000 years.
According to him, in today’s climate, which is changing due to the burning of fossil fuels, such a summer should now be expected approximately once every nine years.
The intense heat across Europe this summer has had serious consequences for the continent, increasing the strain on emergency services and contributing to a series of devastating wildfires.
Source: Euronews
