Summer 2026 provisionally hottest on record for UK: comment

Commenting on analysis by the Met Office showing that this summer as provisionally the warmest on record for the UK [1], Gareth Redmond-King, Head of International Programme at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said: “It will come as no surprise to Britain’s farmers, nurses and doctors, firefighters, bus drivers, school kids, as well as elderly and vulnerable people that this summer is the UK’s hottest on record.

"Extreme heat since May has caused deaths, devastated crops, and made life dangerous and uncomfortable for millions, as well as destroying people’s homes and harming wildlife as wildfires have broken out in all parts of the country. Coming alongside the devastating loss of life and destruction in Nepal and Tibet, it is a stark reminder of the growing urgency of cutting our emissions to net zero - the only solution we have to halt climate change and stop our summers getting hotter and hotter into the future. If we don’t, this extreme summer could be one of the coolest of the rest of our lives.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1.  Summer 2026 provisionally hottest on record for the UK (Met Office) 

For more information or for interview requests:

George Smeeton, Head of Communications, ECIU, Tel: 020 8156 5305, M: 07894 571 153, email: george.smeeton@eciu.net