UK sets record for number of days over 34C

The UK on Thursday experienced its eighth day in 2026 with the mercury climbing above 34C, the Met Office said, breaking the previous record by one day.

The UK's weather agency wrote on X that a provisional temperature of 34.4C was reported in Wisley in Surrey in southern England, southwest of London.

This broke "a record for the most number of (days at) 34C or higher in a calendar year", it added.

The previous record was seven days, which happened both in 2020 and 1976, it added.

England chalked up its warmest June since records began in 1884, during a sweltering heatwave that disrupted the transport network, schools and hospitals.

Scientists warn that extreme weather events such as heatwaves are becoming more frequent and intense as a result of human-induced climate change.

Western Europe also recorded its hottest ever June, breaking the previous record set last year, the European Union's climate monitor reported Thursday.

While the weather in England is now less humid than in June, the heat "may still cause health issues and infrastructure problems", the Met Office said earlier this week.

The weather service on Thursday also warned that a "marine heat wave is underway" with sea surface water temperatures hitting 18C in the North Sea off the southeast coast.

am/jkb/ach 

© Agence France-Presse