Response to Met Office confirmation that summer 2026 is on course to be UK's hottest on record

Press release on 11 August, 2026

Aerial view of Victoria Park in London during the 2026 heatwave and drought. Photo by Guy Bennett-Odlum/iStock

Emma Howard Boyd CBE, Chair of the Heat Risk Commission and Professor in Practice at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, said:

“The Met Office says this summer is on course to be the UK’s warmest on record – surpassing a record set only last year.

“This month, as the Prime Minister tours every region of the UK, it will be hard to miss the impacts of this extraordinary summer: wildfires, drought, parched farmland and people struggling to work in extreme heat.

“Heatwaves are no longer simply environmental risks – they are economic and public health risks, driving up household bills, disrupting businesses, schools, farms and transport, and putting pressure on the places where people live and work. The impact on people’s health is already clear in the excess heat statistics, showing that extreme heat is not a distant threat but a growing reality for communities across the UK.

“The Government must now act with urgency to prepare the country for a hotter climate, cutting emissions while investing in the resilience of our homes, infrastructure, farms and public services.”

Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, said:

“The news that this summer is set to be the warmest on record, surpassing last summer’s unprecedented temperature, is further confirmation of the growing impact of climate change on the UK.

“We have seen hundreds of heat-related deaths across the country, billions of pounds in lost productivity and economic damage to agriculture, and wildfires across some of our most precious natural reserves. This is not the new normal.

“These impacts of climate change are abnormal and caused by humans. They will continue to increase, including more frequent and intense summer heatwaves, until the world reaches net zero emissions of greenhouse gases. The politicians and lobby groups who argue that we cannot afford net zero now need to explain how they propose to pay for the mounting damage from climate change.”