It has been a sweltering and incredibly dry summer in the United Kingdom, with as many as five heatwaves impacting the country over the past few months. In fact, it’s been an exceptional summer in countless ways, not least delivering the warmest June on record and the highest registered June temperature too, but it’s also led to near record-breaking heat-related deaths and droughts being declared almost across the entirety of England.
Adding to all of this is the fact the fifth heatwave of the summer has just concluded and it was another incredibly warm one for much of the UK. According to the Met Office, Kew Gardens in London registered a peak temperature of 38.1°C, which made August 13 the hottest day of 2026 in the country. Interestingly, despite being such a warm day, it wasn’t a record-breaker in regards to August temperatures nor all-time temperatures, even if it was close on both accounts.
The 38.1°C registered on August 13 was the fifth hottest day on record, while also being just 0.4°C from being the hottest August day ever too. It was quite the distance from being the hottest day ever for the UK, as back in July 2022, an extreme 40.3°C was registered in Lincolnshire, which remains such an anomaly that nothing has got within 1.5°C of it since.
What we do know is that this summer has contributed to three of the nine warmest days on record for the UK, showing this summer has been a season of exceptional weather, or maybe a sign of things to come in the future…
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