England recorded its warmest June on record after a severe heatwave in the final days of the month triggered unprecedented three-day red extreme heat alerts, according to Met Office data reported by The Guardian.
Provisional statistics indicate that Wales and the UK as a whole experienced their second-warmest June since 1884.
This exceptional weather followed the warmest spring on record for England and Wales and the third-warmest for the entire UK.
"June's high temperatures are part of a broader pattern of warmth during 2026," said Dr Emily Carlisle, a Met Office scientist.
She noted that five of the first six months of the year recorded mean temperatures at least 1C above average, with January being the sole exception.
In late spring, Kew Gardens in Greater London reached 35.1C, surpassing its previous station record of 29.3C and the previous UK May record of 32.8C.
"This reflects the exceptional nature of the heat, with values more typical of mid-summer being observed in late spring," the Met Office said.
The late June heatwave brought exceptionally warm nights where minimum temperatures stayed above 20C.
Across the UK, minimum temperatures for the month were more than 2C above average, while England experienced overnight temperatures 2.6C above the norm.
"June's heatwave was a significant weather event, with a red extreme heat warning issued.
Human-induced climate change has made events like this more likely and more intense," said Prof Stephen Belcher CBE, the Met Office chief scientist.
He explained that such temperatures in June carry significant health implications from heat stress and affect sectors including transport, energy, and water supply.
This event marked the first time since the introduction of extreme heat warnings in 2021 that a red warning was issued for three consecutive days in the UK.
Met Office projections suggest that hot spells will become increasingly frequent in the future, particularly across the south-east of the UK, with the most intense rises occurring in summer.
Concurrently, a rapid modeling study by Dr Christopher Callahan at Indiana University found that the broader European heatwave caused more than 20,000 deaths between June 22 and June 28.
The analysis estimated 5,000 excess deaths in France, 4,500 in Germany, 3,000 in Spain, 2,700 in Italy, 1,070 in Poland, and 862 deaths in the UK.
