ByBecky Dale, Mark Poynting and Jess Carr
BBC Verify
The UK faced its hottest summertime connected grounds this year, with overmuch of the state experiencing drought and repeated heatwaves.
But temperatures and rainfall were not the aforesaid everywhere. Type successful your postcode to spot what summertime 2026 was similar successful your area.
🏠🌤️ How was summertime 2026 adjacent you?
A modern browser with JavaScript and a unchangeable net transportation is required to presumption this interactive.
As a result, we can't amusement accusation for your location, but information for the full UK is disposable below.
Data up to August 2026
☀️ Temperature
In the UK summertime temperatures person been above average.
The maximum regular somesthesia was 21.3C connected average, which is 2.4C above what it was for summertime betwixt 1991 and 2020.
Virtually each of the UK experienced above average temperatures, driven by repeated heatwaves.
Southern England and Wales saw vigor acold supra usual. Temperatures were person to mean crossed Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Average regular maximum successful summertime 2026 compared with the 1991-2020 average
Average regular maximum somesthesia representation key
-4C: deepest blue
No Change: white
+4C: deepest red
🌧️ Rainfall
Rainfall successful the UK has been below average this summer.
Across the state a full of 195mm of rainfall fell connected average, which is 23% below what it was for summertime betwixt 1991 and 2020.
Summer months thin to beryllium drier, but this twelvemonth was exceptional. Only north-western Scotland saw much summertime rainfall than usual, arsenic droughts were declared crossed overmuch of the remainder of the UK.
Total rainfall successful summertime 2026 arsenic a percent of 1991-2020 mean summertime rainfall
Total rainfall representation key
Drier: brown
Wetter: blue
-100%: deepest brown
No Change: white
+100%: deepest blue
About the data
Where does the information travel from?
This lookup uses information from the HadUK Grid dataset (opens successful caller tab), which is produced by the Met Office Hadley Centre. HadUK Grid is 1 of the main products utilized by scientists to show and probe the UK’s changing climate.
The HadUK dataset displays somesthesia and rainfall information crossed a azygous grid covering the full landmass of the UK. The information does not screen the Channel Islands. Every worth connected the grid is an estimation for the centre constituent of a 1km by 1km grid box, the astir elaborate clime information publically disposable for the UK. The values are created utilizing observations from land-based upwind stations crossed the country, and by taking into relationship further factors specified arsenic altitude, terrain and region from the seashore to scientifically “fill successful the gaps” betwixt upwind stations.
The results displayed for each grid country represents a mean mean of that grid compartment and its nearest grid cells. For astir areas, this represents a 5km quadrate centred connected the superior grid cell. Along irregular coastlines and connected tiny islands, the nearest grid cells are chosen to lucifer the signifier of the coastline oregon island, but nary cells are further than 7km away.
This attack aims to debar crisp jumps betwixt neighbouring locations which whitethorn occasionally originate owed to uncertainties successful the data, portion inactive making usage of the astir elaborate dataset disposable to seizure section upwind conditions crossed the UK's varied geography.
The information for 2026 is provisional, with less observations feeding into calculations owed to lags successful information availability. As such, the precise values could alteration somewhat successful aboriginal arsenic much information comes available. The humanities averages are calculated implicit a 30-year play from 1991-2020, which matches the modular play utilized by the UN’s World Meteorological Organization.
What does the upwind information represent?
The mean somesthesia represents the mean mean of the enactment of grid cells crossed the period oregon season.
The maximum somesthesia is the mean mean of the regular maximums recorded crossed each nearest grid cells for the period oregon season; the minimum somesthesia is the mean mean of the regular minimums.
The rainfall is the full magnitude of rainfall for the period oregon season, averaged crossed the enactment of grid cells.
Acknowledgements
Methodology enactment from Dan Hollis, Amy Doherty and Oli Claydon, UK Met Office.
High-pressure upwind systems sat implicit the UK for overmuch of the summer, bringing clear, sunny skies for galore parts of the state and creating warm, adust conditions.
But planetary warming - chiefly the effect of the burning of fossil fuels - is raising mean temperatures successful the UK.
This means that immoderate lukewarm spells tin scope higher temperatures than the aforesaid upwind systems of the past.
The Met Office estimates that this summer's mean somesthesia was made astir 130 times much apt by human-caused clime change.
Rising temperatures besides mean that our vegetation and soils adust retired much rapidly - which tin worsen the effects of debased rainfall.
UK summers are expected to go drier connected mean owed to clime alteration - though erstwhile determination is dense rainfall it could autumn successful much aggravated bursts.
Not each summertime volition beryllium arsenic blistery oregon adust arsenic this one, arsenic upwind patterns alteration from twelvemonth to year.
But scientists pass that mean temperatures volition support expanding portion countries support adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
Development and investigating by Ryan Smith, Stephen Connor and Adam Allen. Data enactment by Libby Rogers and Christine Jeavans.
English (US)·