Friday, August 07, 2026
Climate change ushers in record-breaking July
The paper adds that England and Wales also provisionally recorded their driest July since records began in 1836, with Wales having its joint warmest July on record for mean temperature, while England recorded its second warmest July:
The Met Office said the “remarkable conditions” this year came amid a summer marked by multiple heat records.
The heatwaves have been made more intense and more likely by the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis. The heatwave that affected western Europe at the end of June was the most severe and widespread ever.
July was the sixth consecutive month this year to have had above average mean temperatures, with only January so far experiencing mean temperatures below average.
Dr Amy Doherty, a science manager at the Met Office, said: “The combination of record-breaking dryness, exceptional warmth and unprecedented sunshine has delivered one of the most notable summer months in our historical records.”
The Environment Agency said the conditions were affecting farmers, wildlife and the amount of water available for public and business use.
Half of England and the whole of Wales were last week declared to be officially in drought. In England, 40% of the population are under a hosepipe ban.
The National Farmers’ Union has warned the punishing drought could lead to shortages of certain foods in Britain.
A series of huge wildfires, supercharged by the climate crisis, has torched large parts of Europe this summer.
Greece is battling one of the worst seasons of wildfires of the past decade and in France, thousands of evacuees were allowed to return home or to holiday accommodation on Monday after the country’s largest wildfire on record.
Rivers in Europe are facing extremely low flows. The Danube’s water flow has fallen to 1,500 cubic metres a second in Romania, less than a third of its July average.
The Met Office said on Monday England had its driest July on record, with only 6.5mm of rainfall. That is only 10% of its long-term meteorological average for the month, and less than half of the previous record of 13.4mm set in 1911.
Wales has also had its driest July on record, with 9.3mm of rainfall – only 9% of its long-term meteorological average for the month.
This is a wake-up call those comparing the heatwave to 1976, and claiming that there is nothing to be worried about. Not only has this latest spell of weather been hotter than 1976, it has lasted longer and, unlike that time, is being repeated year on year.
Climate change is here to stay and it is going to make out lives very uncomfortable.
