On Thursday afternoon London recorded a temperature of 38.1°C, the hottest day of the year so far and the fifth‑hottest day ever documented in the United Kingdom. The heat came under an amber warning for extreme temperatures and coincided with the fifth heatwave of an unusually hot summer.
The Met Office confirmed that this was the second occasion this year that the UK has reached the 38°C mark, surpassing the previous record of 38°C set during the late‑June heatwave of 2026. Thursday also became the first year on record to register three separate days where temperatures hit the 37°C threshold, and the first year with four days at 36°C or above.
Wider impacts across the region
Across the Atlantic, Toronto recorded a high of 33°C on the same day, prompting the city’s health department to urge residents to stay hydrated and limit outdoor activity.
Dry conditions now affect more than 70% of the United Kingdom following a record‑dry July, and August has so far delivered only 5% of the rainfall normally expected for the month.
Friday is forecast to remain hot, with temperatures in London expected to reach 33°C, before a brief respite is anticipated over the weekend when highs should fall into the mid‑20s.
Climate context and official warnings
Baroness Brown, chair of the Climate Change Committee’s adaptation work, warned that the situation "gets worse from here" unless greenhouse‑gas emissions are reduced to net‑zero.
Climate advisers are calling on the government to prepare for worsening extremes, suggesting measures such as simplifying the process for farmers to build reservoirs, installing air‑conditioning in hospitals, and providing grants to vulnerable households for similar upgrades.
Wildfires and other extreme events
England and Wales have already experienced as many wildfires this year as during the entirety of 2025, with 1,017 incidents recorded – matching last year’s record total. A notable blaze continues to burn in the New Forest after a van fire on the A31 near Ringwood ignited the vegetation.
In the United States, the National Weather Service issued heat alerts for parts of the Midwest, highlighting a broader North‑American trend of rising summer temperatures.