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Environment & Climate

Summer 2026 expected to be declared UK's hottest on record

Provisional Met Office figures are anticipated to show that persistent heat and five widespread heatwaves pushed mean temperatures past the record set just last year.

Updated Sep 1, 2026 · 00:18 UTC1 reports

The short version

  • The Met Office is expected to confirm that the summer of 2026 was the hottest in the UK since records began in 1884, surpassing the previous record set in 2025.
  • The season was marked by extreme and persistent heat, featuring 40 days of temperatures above 30°C (86°F) and five widespread heatwaves.
  • While England and Wales are expected to set individual temperature records and Northern Ireland is expected to come close, Scotland is projected to fall short.

Key facts

  • The UK Met Office is scheduled to release provisional June, July, and August temperature figures on Tuesday afternoon, which are expected to show record-breaking mean temperatures.[BBC News]
  • The summer of 2026 recorded 40 days of temperatures above 30°C, breaking the previous record of 34 days set in 1995.[BBC News]
  • The highest temperature recorded during the season was 38.1°C (100.6°F) at Kew Gardens in London on August 13, which is provisionally the fifth-hottest day on record in the UK.[BBC News]
  • The extreme heat and dry conditions led authorities to declare a drought across all of Wales and more than two-thirds of England.[BBC News]
  • All five of the hottest summers on record in the UK have occurred since the year 2000.[BBC News]

What remains uncertain

  • The precise margin by which the summer of 2026 broke the temperature record remains pending until the Met Office releases its final provisional data.[BBC News]

Sources