The UK has has recorded its warmest summer on record, the Met Office has said.
An average mean temperature of 16.5C puts this summer as provisionally the hottest ever, as well as the warmest season for the UK in a series which goes back to 1884.
Dr Amy Doherty, who leads the National Climate Information Centre at the Met Office said: “The conditions we’ve seen this summer have broken UK climate records once again. These records are now breaking with increasing frequency, reflecting the influence of human-induced climate change on the temperatures we’re experiencing in the UK.
“Particularly notable is how much we’ve exceeded the previous summer mean temperature record, set just last year. The figures also knock the infamous summer of 1976 down to seventh for average summer mean temperature, with the top five warmest summers all occurring since 2003.”
The UK was plunged into drought and gripped by wildfires following five heatwaves over the summer.
A temperature of 30C or higher was recorded on 40 separate days, smashing the previous record of 34 days in 1995.
Ruth Fuller, WWF’s chief climate adviser said: “This summer, you didn’t have to be a weather forecaster to tell which way the wind was blowing.
“These stark figures prove what we have been experiencing first hand, we are getting hotter and hotter. And the climate will continue to heat up until we cut our emissions to net zero.
“That is why the UK Government must accelerate efforts to wean ourselves off expensive, polluting oil and gas, and transition to clean home-grown renewables, which means no new North Sea drilling.”
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