Summer 2026 Set to Be UK's Hottest Ever

The Met Office is expected to confirm on Tuesday that summer 2026 was the hottest ever recorded in the UK. This would break the previous record, which was set only last year, in 2025.

According to the summary of the report, the summer has been marked by unprecedented heat, meaning heat never seen before at this level. The high temperatures were not just brief spikes but lasted for a long period.

A weather record is the highest or lowest measurement ever taken for a certain place or time. Breaking a record means the new measurement is more extreme than any before it.

The Met Office regularly collects and studies UK weather data. It uses this information to track long-term changes and to compare different years. This new report will officially compare summer 2026 with earlier summers.

Experts often link repeated record-breaking heat to wider patterns of climate change, though the summary itself does not give further details about causes this year.

The fact that two record summers have occurred within consecutive years, in 2025 and 2026, may raise questions about how often such extreme heat could now happen.

Persistent hot weather can affect daily life in several ways. It can increase pressure on health services, water supplies, and farming, although the summary does not confirm specific effects for this year.

People across the UK are likely to remember summer 2026 for its long stretches of warm, dry weather. The official figures on Tuesday will make the record result clear and public.