Summer 2026 was the warmest in the UK since records began in 1884, according to provisional figures from the Met Office.

The average temperature across June, July and August was 16.5C, beating the previous high of 16.1C set only last year.

It means the top six warmest summers on record have all occurred this century, including three this decade: 2026 in first place, followed by 2025, 2018, 2006, 2003 and 2022.

A summer such as the one in 2026 is around 130 times more likely because of climate change and is now a “one in nine year event”, the Met Office said.

The figures reflect the impact of a “remarkable” summer of extreme heat and very little rainfall, that led to devastating wildfires, water restrictions for millions and many areas being declared in drought.

Parts of the country have seen as many as five heatwaves in recent months, with the first in late May, followed by one in late June, two in July and one in mid-August.

The June heatwave prompted a rare red alert from the Met Office for extreme heat and saw temperatures peak at 38.0C on June 26 in Lingwood in Norfolk – a new record for the month.

An estimated 2,877 deaths in England were associated with the heatwaves in May and June, according to the UK Health Security Agency.

As the scorching summer continued, England saw its driest July since data began, with only 7mm of rain measured, or 10% of the long-term average.

The most recent heatwave, in mid-August, saw temperatures climb as high as 38.1C in Kew Gardens on August 13, making it the hottest day of the year.

It meant 2026 became the first year to see three separate days where temperatures exceeded 37C.

Met Office head of climate attribution, Dr Mark McCarthy, said: “The summer of 2026 has been remarkable and is an example of the extremes we can expect to see more frequently as a consequence of human induced climate change.

“Our analysis shows a summer like the one we’ve just experienced is now around 130 times more likely because of climate change.

“In a climate unaffected by human emissions of greenhouse gases, a summer like this would be exceptionally unlikely – one in over 1,000 years.

“In our current climate, which is changing because of the effect of burning of fossil fuels, we should now expect this to be roughly a one in nine year event.”

The punishing heat and lack of rainfall meant wildfires were common across the UK.

A blaze in the Cairngorms mountain range in Scotland that started in mid-July burned for more than a month across 10 square miles of moorland and forestry, while a fire on hills above Blaenavon in south Wales started in late July and continued for several weeks.

More recently, 19 homes in Stourbridge were destroyed by wildfires in mid-August.

Fire and rescue services in England and Wales had responded to 1,132 wildfires so far this year as of August 16, surpassing the 1,017 total for the whole of 2025, according to the National Fire Chiefs Council.

Elsewhere, the Met Office weather station at Wisley in Surrey recorded 62 consecutive days with no rain, while those at Heathrow Airport in London and Odiham in Hampshire clocked up dry spells that lasted 56 days.

Responding to the provisional figures, Katie White, Minister for Climate Transition, said: “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.

“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.

“That makes us more determined to act, with some of the biggest and boldest action in a generation to electrify our economy and tackle climate change with clean energy made in Britain.

“We’re seizing the opportunity to upgrade Britain, backing our best scientists, entrepreneurs and technologies to make us happier, healthier and wealthier.”

Bristol Water last week became the latest company to announce a hosepipe ban, meaning around 30 million people in England now have restrictions on their use of water.

Reservoir storage in England currently stands at 60%, 18 percentage points below the average for this time of year, with nine reservoirs classed by the Environment Agency as having exceptionally low levels.

These include Wimbleball and Clatworthy reservoirs in Somerset, where storage is currently 37% and 40% respectively, Ardingley in West Sussex (44%) and Hanningfield in Essex (49%).

No droughts have been declared in Scotland or Northern Ireland, though two areas in south-west Scotland have “significant scarcity” of water, according to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

The National Drought Group continues to meet weekly to coordinate action and monitor risks across the country.

Earlier this month, the Government announced a £65 million package to support farmers, who have reported their earliest harvest in 20 years, with yields impacted by the intense heat stress and dry weather.