Britain experienced its hottest summer on record, the national weather service announced Tuesday, surpassing the previous record set just one year ago. Provisional data, collected since 1884, indicated a mean average temperature of 16.5 degrees Celsius (61.7 Fahrenheit).
The summer was characterized by extreme heat, minimal rainfall, significant wildfires, and the implementation of water restrictions. The new record beat the 2025 average of 16.1 C (61 F), which itself had surpassed the 2018 mark of 15.7 C (60.2 F).
"These records are now breaking with increasing frequency, reflecting the influence of human-induced climate change," said Amy Doherty, head of the National Climate Information Center. She noted that the current record significantly exceeded the previous summer mean temperature record. The five hottest summers on record have all occurred since 2003.
The Met Office calculated that human-caused climate change made such a hot summer approximately 130 times more likely. Without human greenhouse gas emissions, a summer of this intensity would be expected to occur once a millennium, but is now anticipated once every nine years.
"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," stated Minister of Climate Transition Katie White. She described the widespread impact, including children struggling to sleep, families concerned for older relatives, farmers facing parched fields, and emergency services battling wildfires.
Heatwaves began in late May and recurred throughout the summer months, with two distinct periods of intense heat in July. The U.K. Health Security Agency estimated that the heatwaves in May and June were associated with 2,877 deaths in England.
The peak temperature recorded was 38 C (100.4 F) in Norfolk on June 26, setting a record for that month. The highest temperature of the year was recorded in London on August 13, reaching 38.1 C (100.6 F).
England, Wales, and Northern Ireland all registered record mean summer temperatures. Scotland, however, experienced cooler and less dry conditions, tying its sixth warmest summer on record. Drought conditions persist across all of Wales and most of England.