Met Office Confirms Summer 2026 as UK's Hottest Ever — SkimNews
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- The Met Office confirmed summer 2026 as UK's hottest since 1884 at a mean 16.5°C, and its attribution scientists found human-caused climate change made the heat roughly 130 times more likely.
- The UK Health Security Agency estimated 2,877 heat-related deaths in England during May and June heatwaves, with temperatures peaking at 38.1°C at Kew Gardens on 13 August.
- England recorded its driest July on record at just 6.5mm of rainfall (10% of the long-term average), fueling wildfires near the Sizewell nuclear plant in Suffolk and destroying 19 homes in Stourbridge.
- Andy Burnham, in his first Commons address as prime minister, cited the heat and confirmed he would attend Cop31 in Turkey in November.
- The Conservative party is due to present a 10-minute rule motion Wednesday to repeal the Climate Change Act 2008, the law enshrining the UK's net-zero target.
- Katie White, minister for climate transition, called the summer a "brutal reminder" the UK is "living in the middle of" climate change.
Why it matters: Summer 2026 brought an estimated 2,877 heat deaths in England during May-June alone, while the Conservative party brings a repeal motion Wednesday to scrap the Climate Change Act 2008 — the law enshrining the UK's net-zero target. The political and human stakes of UK climate policy now land in the same week.
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