The figures mean all five of the UK’s warmest summers have taken place since the year 2000.
Summer 2025 was the UK’s warmest on record, the Met Office has confirmed.
The mean average temperature across June, July and August was a provisional 16.10C, beating the previous seasonal high of 15.76C set in 2018.
It comes just months after the UK experienced the warmest and sunniest spring since data began.
The back-to-back record-breaking seasons have brought long spells of dry and hot weather for many across the country, but have taken their toll on the environment and agriculture, leading to hosepipe bans, drought orders, poor harvests and low water levels in reservoirs.
All five of the UK’s warmest summers have now taken place since the year 2000: 2025 (16.10C), 2018 (15.76C), 2006 (15.75C), 2003 (15.74C) and 2022 (15.71C).
Met Office temperature data for the UK began in 1884.
Four heatwaves hit the UK this summer, all of which saw temperatures climb above 30C, though none was quite as fierce as the heatwave of July 2022 when an all-time high of 40.3C was reached.
The highest temperature recorded was 35.8C at Faversham in Kent on July 1.
This year’s spells of intense heat were also relatively short-lived and did not persist for as long as in the scorching summer of 1976, when multiple locations across England endured heatwave-like conditions lasting more than two weeks.
Temperatures peaked above 32C on 16 days during the summer of 1976, compared with nine days in 2025.
Met Office scientist Dr Emily Carlisle said: “The persistent warmth this year has been driven by a combination of factors including the domination of high-pressure systems, unusually warm seas around the UK and the dry spring soils.
“These conditions have created an environment where heat builds quickly and lingers, with both maximum and minimum temperatures considerably above average.”
