UK Heatwaves Shatter Records Amidst Warming Climate

Over the last two months the UK has experienced two heatwaves, which have shattered significant, long-standing temperature records.

This hasn't happened since 1911.

And we're still relatively early in the summer with our hottest weather normally coming in late July and into August.

While the current June heatwave will gradually come to an end over the weekend with a return to more average conditions next week, there are already indications that we could see more heatwaves this summer.

It has been a bit of a weather rollercoaster since May when a large area of high pressure - known as a 'heat dome' - sat across the UK bringing dry, sunny and very warm weather. A new May record temperature of 35.1C was set in Kew Gardens, London.

June - and the start of meteorological summer - then started on a wet and much cooler note with temperatures dropping to well below average.

Low pressure from the Atlantic brought a series of weather fronts with the whole of June's rainfall in just the first half of the month.

Weather patterns shifted again and in a dramatic turnaround we've just experienced another intense heatwave with the June all-time temperature record broken.

Forecasters issued their three-month summer outlook on 1 June which suggested higher-than-normal chances of hotter weather during June.

A "few notable high temperature spikes" are also possible this summer, according to MeteoGroup who currently provide BBC Weather with data.

These seasonal forecasts have so far proved accurate.

For only the second time since their inception in 2021, a red extreme heat warning was issued by the Met Office this week across south-east Wales and southern England.

Schools were closed and the transport network strained as people tried to deal with the extreme heat.

As for the rest of summer - which runs through to the end of August – forecasters suggest "an increased chance of heatwaves and heat-related impacts".

They also say "above-average temperatures" are expected for each month of July and August, and "significant bursts" of heat are expected in the UK, and across Europe.

According to the Met Office, having a hotter summer is now twice as likely than the period of 1991-2020, which is consistent with our warming climate.

Human-induced climate change is shifting the baseline temperature higher and this is making our heatwaves hotter, more frequent and longer lasting.

Met Office scientists have said there is an increasing likelihood of extreme temperatures in the UK, revealing that the chance of exceeding 40C is accelerating at pace.

The UK saw the first temperature above 40C in July 2022 when Coningsby, Lincolnshire recorded the UK's all-time highest temperature of 40.3C.

If global warming continues at its current pace, temperatures in the mid-forties could be a serious possibility for the UK by 2050, according to Met Office projections.

In an analysis by World Weather Attribution (WWA), the extreme June heat across Western Europe would have been "impossible just a few decades ago".