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The UK has just sizzled through its hottest summer on record, a phenomenon made 70 times more likely by climate change, the Met Office said today.
It beat the previous high set in 2018, and kicks the notoriously hot summer of 1976 into sixth place.
The persistent heat drove hosepipe bans, “nationally significant” water shortfalls, and even a “false autumn” in places.
The new provisional data found temperatures between 1 June and 31 August 2025 were 16.10C on average across the UK – much higher than the previous record of 15.76C in 2018.
The difference might sound small, but – as an average over a three-month period, including day and nighttime temperatures – is in fact substantial.
All the top five warmest summers have occurred since the year 2000, which the Met Office called a “clear sign of the UK’s changing and warming climate”.
Did autumn come early this year?
The heat gave rise to early signs of autumn, with blackberries ripening early and leaves turning brown and falling to the ground in August.
This so-called “false autumn” is not the early arrival of the next season, but a survival mechanism of trees and plants when stressed by extreme summer conditions.
They shed leaves and fruit ahead of schedule to conserve water and energy, especially the younger trees whose shallow roots can’t access moisture further underground.
Kevin Martin from Kew Gardens called false autumns a “visible warning sign”.
“Trees are remarkably resilient, but they are also long-lived organisms facing rapid environmental changes.”
Was this summer warmer than 1976?
This summer was the hottest on record going back to 1884, and far warmer even than the memorably hot summer of 1976, which now trails in sixth place.
The Met Office’s Dr Mark McCarthy said this shows how “what would have…
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