Human-driven warming linked to surge in extreme temperatures
Britain has just experienced its warmest summer since national weather records began in 1884, according to new data from the Met Office. Scientists say the unprecedented heat is closely tied to the long-term influence of climate change, which is making severe heat events more frequent and more intense.
Globally, 2024 has already been confirmed as the hottest summer ever recorded, with large parts of Europe facing dangerous temperatures that fueled devastating wildfires in Spain, Portugal, and other regions.
Average temperatures set new benchmark
Between June and August, the UK registered an average temperature of 16.10°C (60.98°F), breaking the previous high of 15.76°C recorded in 2018. This year’s figure was 1.51°C above the historical seasonal average.
Mark McCarthy, who leads climate attribution studies at the Met Office, said the warming is a direct consequence of greenhouse gas emissions since the industrial revolution. “Events that once would have been seen as outliers are now increasingly representative of the UK’s climate,” he noted.
Future summers may be even hotter
Experts at the Met Office warn that the country is likely to face even warmer summers in the years ahead. “What used to be rare extremes are no longer unusual,” McCarthy added.
Over the course of this summer, the UK endured four distinct heatwaves. The peak temperature reached 35.8°C in Faversham, Kent — below the all-time UK record of 40.3°C set in July 2022, but still significantly hotter than typical seasonal conditions.
