Cooler for some this weekend but heatwave continues
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- UK temperatures exceeded 35C on Friday, making 2026 the record year for the most 35C+ days in a calendar year (six so far) and the most 34C+ days (nine), with parts of Scotland officially entering heatwave status after three days at or above 25C
- UKHSA amber and yellow heat health alerts remain in place across large parts of England until 21:00 BST on Sunday
- Friday's peaks were 35.2C in Coton-in-the-Elms, Derbyshire (England), 34.3C in Usk, Monmouthshire (Wales), 29.7C in Threave, Dumfries and Galloway (Scotland), and 27.4C in Killowen, Co. Down (Northern Ireland)
- Five water companies announced hosepipe bans affecting over five million people, including Anglian Water's first ban in a decade (effective 01:00 BST Saturday), Southern Water's one-million-household ban in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, and Cambridge Water's first ban in 30 years
- Spring 2026 rainfall was 14% below the long-term UK average, with southern England at just 50% of normal; Suffolk, Kent, Essex, Cambridgeshire, and the City of London each saw roughly a third of their average seasonal rainfall
- A strengthening north-easterly wind will shift the hottest zone westward into the west Midlands and south-east Wales on Saturday (up to 33C) and cool eastern England, but the heatwave is set to continue into next week, with criteria potentially met in more of the UK by Wednesday or Thursday
Why it matters: Over five million households in southern England face immediate water-use restrictions as the region received only about a third of its average spring rainfall, while UKHSA amber and yellow health alerts signal sustained health risk across nearly all of England through Sunday night — and forecasters say the heatwave is not over yet.
