The Met Office reported that the UK's summer of 2026 was the hottest on record, with a mean temperature of 16.5C.
The Met Office reported that the UK's summer of 2026 was the hottest on record, with a mean mean temperature of 16.5C. This record-breaking season was made 130 times more likely by human-induced climate change.
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England, Wales, and Northern Ireland broke their respective mean temperature records for summer, while Scotland recorded its joint sixth hottest summer. This summer followed a record-breaking summer in 2025, making 2026 the second consecutive year of record-breaking heat. The infamous summer of 1976 is now the seventh warmest on record in terms of mean temperature. The extreme heat was accompanied by persistent drought and severe wildfires. England recorded its driest July on record with only 6.5mm of rainfall. The UK Health Security Agency announced that an estimated 2,877 people died during the May and June heatwaves alone. Climate scientists noted that the conditions observed this summer fit the projections for an average summer under 3C of global warming. The Met Office's head of climate attribution, Dr Mark McCarthy, stated that these extremes will occur more frequently as a consequence of human-induced climate change.