Britain experienced its hottest summer on record after a series of heat waves swept across the country, the national weather service said Tuesday.
The summer, which brought extreme temperatures, limited rainfall, damaging wildfires and water restrictions, surpassed the previous record set just a year ago, according to provisional data collected by the Met Office since 1884.
The mean average temperature for the summer reached 16.5 degrees Celsius (61.7 Fahrenheit), exceeding the previous record of 16.1 C (61 F) set in 2025. Last year's record had surpassed the 15.7 C (60.2 F) recorded in 2018.
"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.
"Particularly notable is how much we've exceeded the previous summer mean temperature record, set just last year," she said.
The five hottest summers on record have all occurred since 2003.
The Met Office estimated that human-caused climate change had made a summer this hot 130 times more likely. Without greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans, such a summer would be expected only once in 1,000 years, whereas it is now likely to occur about 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," Minister of Climate Transition Katie White said.
"With kids too hot to sleep, families worrying about older relatives, farmers watching fields dry out, and firefighters and our armed forces battling wildfires, we've all woken up to a reality none of us wants for the people and places we love," she said.
The heat waves started in late May and returned during each month of the summer, including two in July.
The U.K. Health Security Agency estimated that 2,877 deaths in England were associated with heat waves in May and June.
Temperatures reached a monthly record of 38 C (100.4 F) in Norfolk on June 26. The year's highest temperature was recorded in London on Aug. 13, when the mercury rose to 38.1 C (100.6 F).
England, Wales and Northern Ireland all recorded their highest-ever mean summer temperatures. Scotland, which experienced cooler and less dry conditions, tied for its sixth-warmest summer.
All of Wales and most of England remain under drought conditions.