Just how hot and dry was your summer? Use our postcode lookup to find out — SkimNews
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- UK summer 2026 set its hottest average maximum daily temperature on record at 21.3°C, running 2.4°C above the 1991-2020 baseline, with virtually the entire country experiencing above-average heat driven by repeated heatwaves
- Southern England and Wales saw the most extreme temperature departures from normal, whereas Scotland and Northern Ireland stayed closer to their typical summer temperatures
- UK summer rainfall averaged just 195mm — 23% below the 1991-2020 average — with droughts declared across much of the country and only north-western Scotland recording above-average precipitation
- The Met Office attributes the conditions to persistent high-pressure systems over the UK and estimates that human-caused climate change made this summer's average temperature roughly 130 times more likely
- The HadUK Grid dataset, produced by the Met Office Hadley Centre at 1km resolution, powers the new postcode-level lookup that maps local temperature and rainfall anomalies across the UK landmass
Why it matters: With average maximums 2.4°C above the 1991-2020 baseline and rainfall down 23%, the Met Office links the extremity to high-pressure systems amplified by climate change — which made the season's average temperature roughly 130 times more likely. The postcode-level granularity turns a national record into something every household can verify against their own garden, while exposing the sharp north-south rainfall divide.
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