The United Kingdom has just experienced its hottest summer since records began in 1884, according to the Met Office, the country's national weather service. The announcement on Tuesday marks the second consecutive year that the UK has broken its summer temperature record, a trend that scientists attribute directly to human-induced climate change.
The average mean temperature for the season was 16.5°C, surpassing the previous record of 16.1°C set in 2025. This puts 2026 comfortably ahead of the next three warmest summers—2018, 2006, and 2003—which all averaged 15.7°C. England, Wales, and Northern Ireland each recorded their warmest summers, while Scotland saw its joint-sixth warmest.
England also experienced its hottest June on record and its driest July, with just 6.5mm of rainfall for the entire month. The heat peaked on 13 August, when temperatures reached 38.1°C at London's Kew Gardens.
Climate change's fingerprint
Dr Amy Doherty, who leads the Met Office's National Climate Information Centre, said: “These records are now breaking with increasing frequency, reflecting the influence of human-induced climate change on the temperatures we’re experiencing in the UK.” She added that the margin by which the previous record was beaten—set just last year—was particularly notable.
A study by Met Office scientists found that the record-breaking season was made roughly 130 times more likely due to human-induced climate change. Dr Mark McCarthy, head of climate attribution at the Met Office, explained: “In a climate unaffected by human emissions of greenhouse gases, a summer like this would be exceptionally unlikely, i.e. 1 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 1 in 9 year event.”
The UK's experience mirrors a broader European pattern. Across the continent, scorching heatwaves and drought conditions have become more frequent and intense. Spain, for instance, recorded a record 5,232 heat-related deaths in 2026, the highest since tracking began, as reported in a recent analysis. The health impacts of extreme heat are a growing concern for public health systems across Europe.
While some adaptation measures, such as home cooling, have been shown to reduce mortality in other parts of the world, European countries are still grappling with how to protect vulnerable populations during prolonged heat events.
The Met Office's findings add to a growing body of evidence that climate change is not a distant threat but a present reality. As Dr Doherty noted, the frequency of record-breaking seasons is increasing, and the UK—like much of Europe—must prepare for a future where such summers become the norm rather than the exception.
