Met Office

Study: Record 52 per cent of Europe exposed to 'very strong' summer heat stress

Climate change

Study: Record 52 per cent of Europe exposed to 'very strong' summer heat stress

Consequences of 'summer of compounded climate extremes' extend far beyond temperature records, EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service warns

clock 02 October 2026 • 5 min read
Study: Eight-in-10 British cities already highly vulnerable to extreme heat

Climate change

Study: Eight-in-10 British cities already highly vulnerable to extreme heat

New OS Heat Vulnerability Index finds 83 per cent of UK cities are highly vulnerable to extreme heat and the 'urban heat island' effect

clock 09 September 2026 • 5 min read
Met Office confirms summer 2026 was UK's hottest on record

Climate change

Met Office confirms summer 2026 was UK's hottest on record

Provisional data suggests the past summer has seen the warmest temperature since records began in 1884 in the UK, with the record heat 130 times more likely to have occurred due to human-induced climate change

clock 01 September 2026 • 3 min read
National Drought Group: Dry conditions intensifying in England, despite patches of rainfall

Climate change

National Drought Group: Dry conditions intensifying in England, despite patches of rainfall

Government, regulators, and experts now set to meet on a weekly basis to coordinate responses to drought conditions that are impacting homes, businesses, and farmers

clock 21 August 2026 • 5 min read
'World first': Government backs £5m Google AI trial to tackle climate-warming aircraft contrails

Aviation

'World first': Government backs £5m Google AI trial to tackle climate-warming aircraft contrails

UK government commits £2.6m to 30-month trial to test whether AI-generated 'tweaks' to flight paths can prevent vapour trails from forming

clock 18 August 2026 • 3 min read
Prime Minister to chair crisis meeting on UK heatwave, drought and wildfires

Politics

Prime Minister to chair crisis meeting on UK heatwave, drought and wildfires

Andy Burnham to meet with Defra and Environment Agency officials at COBRA meeting this afternoon to discuss the UK's response to extreme heat and dry weather

clock 12 August 2026 • 4 min read
'Extreme heat is not a distant threat': UK on the brink of warmest summer on record

Climate change

'Extreme heat is not a distant threat': UK on the brink of warmest summer on record

Warmest UK summer since records began in 1884 ‘increasingly likely’, Met Office warns, as temperatures stay well above average

clock 11 August 2026 • 5 min read
'Conditions are worsening': Almost three-quarters of England now in drought

Climate change

'Conditions are worsening': Almost three-quarters of England now in drought

Around 45 million people now living in areas currently experiencing drought conditions with hot, dry weather still set to continue across much of England

clock 10 August 2026 • 6 min read
Global ocean temperatures hit hottest on record for July

Climate change

Global ocean temperatures hit hottest on record for July

Although partly fuelled by developing El Niño, latest record offers 'clear example of how climate change is intensifying heat extremes' according to EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service

clock 10 August 2026 • 5 min read
'The climate of the 20th Century has now gone': Met Office warns weather extremes are 'new normal'

Climate change

'The climate of the 20th Century has now gone': Met Office warns weather extremes are 'new normal'

Latest Met Office State of the Climate report for 2025 confirms latest wave of record-breaking temperatures and warns further warming is now inevitable

clock 15 July 2026 • 3 min read