We have experienced the hottest summer ever in Britain with experts warning of even more extreme heat to come. Summer 2026 has been the warmest in the UK since records began in 1884, according to provisional figures from the Met Office.
The average temperature across June, July and August was 16.5C – beating the previous high of 16.1C set only last year. It means the top six warmest summers on record have all occurred this century, including three this decade: 2026 in first place, followed by 2025, 2018, 2006, 2003 and 2022.
And with forecasters predicting at least one more 30C heatwave before the autumn sets in, our drought-ridden nation has more heat in store in the coming weeks.
Summers like the current one are around 130 times more likely because of climate change and is now a “one in nine year event”, the Met Office said.
The figures reflect the impact of a “remarkable” few months of extreme heat and very little rainfall, that led to devastating wildfires, water restrictions for millions and many areas being declared in drought.
Parts of the country have seen as many as five heatwaves, with the first in late May, followed by one in late June, two in July and one in mid-August. And some weather modelling is predicting temperatures will surge again by the middle of this month, reaching 29C in the south, which would be enough for a sixth heatwave.
The first June heatwave prompted a rare red alert from the Met Office for extreme heat and saw temperatures peak at 38C on June 26 in Lingwood in Norfolk – a new record for the month. An estimated 2,877 deaths in England were associated with the heatwaves in May and June, according to the UK Health Security Agency.
As the scorching summer continued, England saw its driest July since data began, with only 7mm of rain measured, or 10% of the long-term average.
The most recent heatwave, in mid-August, saw temperatures climb as high as 38.1C in Kew Gardens on August 13, making it the hottest day of the year. It meant 2026 is the first year ever to see three separate days where temperatures exceeded 37C.
Met Office head of climate attribution, Dr Mark McCarthy, said: “The summer of 2026 has been remarkable and is an example of the extremes we can expect to see more frequently as a consequence of human induced climate change. Our analysis shows a summer like the one we’ve just experienced is now around 130 times more likely because of climate change.
“In a climate unaffected by human emissions of greenhouse gases, a summer like this would be exceptionally unlikely – one in over 1,000 years. In our current climate, which is changing because of the effect of burning of fossil fuels, we should now expect this to be roughly a one in nine year event.”
The punishing heat and lack of rainfall meant wildfires were common across the UK, with 19 homes in Stourbridge destroyed by wildfires in mid-August. Fire and rescue services in England and Wales had responded to 1,132 wildfires so far this year as of August 16, surpassing the 1,017 total for the whole of 2025.
Elsewhere, the Met Office weather station at Wisley in Surrey recorded 62 consecutive days with no rain, while those at Heathrow Airport in London and Odiham in Hampshire clocked up dry spells that lasted 56 days.
Responding to the figures, Katie White, Minister for Climate Transition, 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.”
The persistent dry weather and extreme heat of the past few months continue to have an impact on the UK, despite recent rainfall. Most of England and all of Wales remain officially in drought, the exceptions being the North East, North West and Yorkshire.
Bristol Water last week became the latest company to announce a hosepipe ban, meaning around 30 million people in England now have restrictions on their use of water.
Reservoir storage in England currently stands at 60%, 18 percentage points below the average for this time of year, with nine reservoirs classed by the Environment Agency as having exceptionally low levels.
Earlier this month, the Government announced a £65 million package to support farmers, who have reported their earliest harvest in 20 years, with yields impacted by the intense heat stress and dry weather.
Ruth Fuller, WWF’s chief climate adviser, said: “These stark figures prove what we have been experiencing first hand, we are getting hotter and hotter. And the climate will continue to heat up until we cut our emissions to net zero.
“That is why the UK Government must accelerate efforts to wean ourselves off expensive, polluting oil and gas, and transition to clean home-grown renewables, which means no new North Sea drilling.”