Summer 2025 was warmest on record - and repeat is now 70 times more likely, Met Office says

The UK has conscionable sizzled done its hottest summertime connected record, a improvement made 70 times much apt by clime change, the Met Office said today.

It bushed the erstwhile precocious acceptable successful 2018, and kicks the notoriously blistery summertime of 1976 into sixth place.

The persistent vigor drove hosepipe bans, "nationally significant" h2o shortfalls, and adjacent a "false autumn" successful places.

The caller provisional information recovered temperatures betwixt 1 June and 31 August 2025 were 16.10C connected mean crossed the UK - overmuch higher than the erstwhile grounds of 15.76C successful 2018.

The quality mightiness dependable small, but - arsenic an mean implicit a three-month period, including time and nighttime temperatures - is successful information substantial.

All the apical 5 warmest summers person occurred since the twelvemonth 2000, which the Met Office called a "clear motion of the UK's changing and warming climate".

Did autumn travel aboriginal this year?

The vigor gave emergence to aboriginal signs of autumn, with blackberries ripening aboriginal and leaves turning brownish and falling to the crushed successful August.

This alleged "false autumn" is not the aboriginal accomplishment of the adjacent season, but a endurance mechanics of trees and plants erstwhile stressed by utmost summertime conditions.

They shed leaves and effect up of docket to conserve h2o and energy, particularly the younger trees whose shallow roots can't entree moisture further underground.

Kevin Martin from Kew Gardens called mendacious autumns a "visible informing sign".

"Trees are remarkably resilient, but they are besides long-lived organisms facing accelerated biology changes."

Was this summertime warmer than 1976?

This summertime was the hottest connected grounds going backmost to 1884, and acold warmer adjacent than the memorably blistery summertime of 1976, which present trails successful sixth place.

The Met Office's Dr Mark McCarthy said this shows however "what would person been seen arsenic extremes successful the past are becoming much communal successful our changing climate".

The summertime of 1976 is remembered for its heatwave that lasted much than 2 weeks, and 16 days successful full with temperatures implicit 32C.

Although 2025 has had conscionable 9 days of temperatures implicit 32C, what is "striking" astir this summertime is however consistently lukewarm it was, the Met Office said.

Why was this summertime truthful warm?

There were a fig of factors that made it truthful warm, truthful persistently.

Lingering precocious unit made for settled, sunny and lukewarm weather, and fuelled 4 heatwaves.

It was besides precise dry, with astir a 4th little rainfall than mean for summertime - though that varied by region. But it followed the driest outpouring successful England for much than a century.

Dry crushed holds little moisture that tin evaporate: a process that usually cools things down.

And a marine heatwave sent oversea temperatures connected the aboveground good supra average, with a knock-on interaction connected aerial temperatures.

Overnight temperatures were besides high, keeping the mean up.

What astir clime change?

Climate alteration made a summertime arsenic blistery oregon hotter than this twelvemonth 70 times much likely, the Met Office said.

It adds different furniture of vigor connected apical of the different upwind patterns that whitethorn person happened without humans changing the climate.

The UK is warming by astir 0.25C per decade, and is already astatine slightest 1.24C warmer than the play betwixt 1961-1990.

Without clime change, a summertime similar successful 2025 would person happened astir erstwhile successful each 340 years. Now it's expected erstwhile successful 5 years.