Summer 2025 has been confirmed as the hottest on record in the UK, according to the Met Office.

Provisional data shows the country’s mean temperature – which includes both daytime highs and overnight lows – reached 16.10C (60.98F). That is 1.51C (2.72F) above the long-term average and higher than the previous record set in 2018 (15.76C / 60.37F).

Climate scientists say the findings are consistent with the impact of global heating. A summer as hot as 2025 is now estimated to be 70 times more likely than in a world without human-driven greenhouse gas emissions.

The record means the legendary summer of 1976 has dropped out of the UK’s top five. All of the hottest summers have now occurred since 2000: 2025, 2018, 2006, 2003 and 2022.

The summer’s peak temperature was 35.8C (96.4F), recorded in Faversham, Kent, on 1 July. While lower than the extreme 40.3C (104.5F) seen in July 2022, this year stood out for the persistence and breadth of its heat. The UK experienced four separate heatwaves, beginning with a June spell above 33C (91F) at the summer solstice, followed by Wimbledon’s hottest opening on record, and later peaks bringing the year’s highest temperatures to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

In August, parts of England reached 33.4C (92.1F), while 31.6C (88.9F) at Charterhall in the Borders marked Scotland’s hottest August day since 2003. Sunshine was above average across most of the UK.

Rainfall was mixed. Nationally, the UK received 84% of typical summer rainfall, but central, eastern and southern England were exceptionally dry. Scotland and the north-west, by contrast, were much wetter. With this summer following the driest spring in over 50 years, hosepipe bans have been imposed across much of England.

The season was not without volatility. July brought thunderstorms and flash flooding, while early August saw Storm Floris deliver gusts over 80mph (130km/h), causing major disruption in Scotland. Low pressure also brought wetter conditions at the end of August.

Several factors contributed to the prolonged warmth: frequent high-pressure systems creating long, calm spells of sunshine; parched ground amplifying heat by reducing evaporation; and a marine heatwave that lifted sea temperatures by up to 3C, reducing the usual coastal cooling.

Met Office scientists stress, however, that climate change is the dominant driver. Nine of the past 10 summers (2016–2025) have exceeded the long-term temperature norm, and the number of very hot days above 30C (86F) has more than tripled compared with the 1961–1990 average.

While the summer of 1976 still holds the record for daytime maximums – with 16 days above 32C (90F) compared with nine in 2025 – this year’s higher overnight temperatures made 2025 warmer overall.

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