The UK has had as many 30C days in 2026 as in the infamous year of 1976, as the country experiences its third heatwave of the summer, the Met Office said.
Temperatures on Monday peaked at 30.1C in Hurn in Dorset, making it the ninth day in a row when 30C has been exceeded somewhere in the country.
June’s heatwave saw temperatures peak above 30C seven days in a row.
There have now been 24 days in 2026 – consecutive and non-consecutive – when 30C has been exceeded somewhere in the UK: seven in May, eight in June and nine in July.
That equals the number of 30C-plus days in 1976, which lingers in the UK’s memory for its heatwave and drought conditions that forced people to use standpipes in the street, hit crops and parched landscapes.
With a month-and-a-half of the summer still to come, 2026 has some way to go to reach the record in 1995, when the country had 34 days of 30C-plus temperatures.
However, 2026 is already the first year to have recorded temperatures of 35C or higher on six separate days and has seen a record nine days above 34C, as human-caused climate change – mostly from burning fossil fuels – makes extreme heat and heatwaves more frequent and intense.
The increasingly extreme heat has prompted renewed calls to slash climate-warming emissions to zero overall, known as “net zero”, to halt climbing temperatures.
May and June’s record-breaking heatwaves, which closed schools, disrupted transport and piled pressure on health services, have also prompted demands on the Government to ensure the UK is adapted to a hotter world, through measures such as rolling out air conditioning to hospitals and care homes.
This summer’s third heatwave has left fire and rescue crews tackling wildfires across England and Wales, while seven English regions have been issued with yellow heat-health alerts through to Friday.
The Met Office said the heatwave is set to continue for much of the UK this week, with temperatures peaking on Wednesday at possible highs of 33C in some parts of southern-central England.
Temperatures are set to ease by the second half of the week, with peak temperatures dipping to the mid to high-20s for many by Saturday, the Met Office said.
