Weather and climate records: your questions answered
UK temperature, rainfall and sunshine records, the hottest years and summers, heatwaves, drought and flood risk, from Met Office and official data.
Is the UK in drought?
Parts of England are. The Environment Agency's dry weather and drought report for 2 to 8 October 2026 says Yorkshire would move to drought status on 9 October, making 11 areas in drought, with the rest of England in prolonged dry weather status. Reservoir storage across England was 54%, 21% below normal for the time of year.
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How much rain does the UK get a year?
The UK averaged about 1,163mm of rain a year over 1991 to 2020, based on the Met Office UK and regional series. 2025 was drier than average, at 1,061mm.
Rainfall varies sharply across the country. Over the same 30 years, Scotland averaged about 1,573mm a year and Wales about 1,465mm, against about 1,156mm in Northern Ireland and 870mm in England. Monthly totals for each nation and region are in the same series, and the Met Office long-term averages give figures for individual weather stations.
Thirty-year averages are the standard comparison point and are updated each decade, so check whether a claim compares with 1961 to 1990 or 1991 to 2020.
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How much has the UK warmed?
The decade 2016 to 2025 was 1.33°C warmer than 1961 to 1990 and 0.51°C warmer than 1991 to 2020 across the UK, according to the Met Office State of the UK Climate 2025, published on 15 July 2026.
The same report found that the number of days above 30°C and nights above 18°C in Greater London more than quadrupled between 1961 to 1990 and 2016 to 2025, and that sea level around the UK has risen by about 20.1cm since 1901. Global temperatures against the 1850 to 1900 pre-industrial baseline are tracked in the Met Office HadCRUT5 dataset.
The UK-wide series begins in 1884, so UK warming is usually stated against a 30-year baseline such as 1961 to 1990 rather than pre-industrial times. Check which baseline a claim uses.
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What is the coldest temperature ever recorded in the UK?
The UK record low is -27.2°C, reached three times in Scotland: at Braemar on 11 February 1895 and 10 January 1982, and at Altnaharra on 30 December 1995, according to the Met Office UK climate extremes tables. The national lows are -26.1°C in England (Newport, Shropshire, 10 January 1982), -23.3°C in Wales (Rhayader, 21 January 1940) and -18.7°C in Northern Ireland (Castlederg, 24 December 2010).
The coldest winter in the UK series, which starts in 1884, was 1962 to 1963, with a mean temperature of -0.3°C. Seasonal figures are in the Met Office UK and regional series.
Records count only from stations with standard instruments and exposure, so readings from other sites are not accepted as official.
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What temperature is a heatwave in the UK?
The Met Office counts a UK heatwave when a place has at least three days in a row with maximum temperatures at or above its local threshold, which is between 25°C and 28°C depending on the county, as its heatwave guide explains. The thresholds are based on the 1991 to 2020 climate and are shown on a county map.
In 2022 the Met Office raised the threshold in eight counties from Surrey to east Yorkshire, six of them from 27°C to 28°C, to reflect warming.
Heatwave criteria are separate from the UK Health Security Agency's heat-health alerts and from Met Office extreme heat warnings, so a heatwave can be met without an alert being issued.
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What was the wettest year on record in the UK?
The wettest year in the Met Office UK rainfall series, which starts in 1836, was 1872, with 1,437.9mm. It is followed by 2000 (1,372.8mm), 1903 (1,344.1mm), 2020 (1,333.5mm) and 2012 (1,329.6mm). The figures are in the Met Office UK and regional series.
Wet winters have become more common. The State of the UK Climate 2025 reports that October to March in 2016 to 2025 was 13% wetter than in 1961 to 1990. Single-day and monthly rainfall records are on the UK climate extremes page, including 341.4mm in 24 hours at Honister Pass, Cumbria, in December 2015.
An annual total averages the whole country, so a year can be dry overall while some places flood.
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What was the hottest year on record in the UK?
2025 was the UK's warmest year in the Met Office series that starts in 1884, with a mean temperature of 10.10°C, just above 2022 at 10.03°C. The Met Office's State of the UK Climate 2025, published on 15 July 2026, notes that 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 are all in the five warmest years.
Annual, seasonal and monthly figures for the UK and each nation are in the Met Office UK and regional series, updated monthly. 2025 was also the sunniest year in the UK sunshine series, which starts in 1910.
The warmest year is based on the average temperature across the whole year and the whole country, which is different from the hottest single day; for that record, see the highest UK temperature. Figures for the current year stay provisional until it ends.
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What was the hottest summer on record in the UK?
Summer 2026 is provisionally the UK's hottest on record, with a mean temperature of 16.5°C, the Met Office announced on 1 September 2026. It beat the record of 16.1°C set in 2025. The next warmest summers were 2018, 2006 and 2003, each at 15.7°C, which pushes 1976 down to seventh.
The Met Office said 2026 was also the warmest summer for average daytime maximum temperature, beating 1976, and that 54 of its stations set new all-time highs. The season peaked at 38.2°C at Hartpury College on 13 August. Seasonal values are in the UK and regional series, which starts in 1884.
Met Office summer means June, July and August. Check whether a claim uses mean, maximum or Central England temperatures, as the rankings differ.
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How many hours of sunshine does the UK get?
The UK averaged about 1,403 hours of sunshine a year over 1991 to 2020, based on the Met Office UK and regional series. 2025 was the sunniest year in the series, which starts in 1910, with 1,644.8 hours.
England gets the most, averaging about 1,538 hours a year over 1991 to 2020, compared with about 1,407 in Wales, 1,256 in Northern Ireland and 1,200 in Scotland. The Met Office State of the UK Climate 2025 reports that 2016 to 2025 was 4% sunnier than 1991 to 2020.
Sunshine is measured as the hours with bright sunshine recorded by instruments, not daylight hours. The Met Office adjusts readings from newer electronic sensors so they match the older Campbell-Stokes recorders.
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How many people die in heatwaves in the UK?
The UK Health Security Agency estimated 1,504 heat-associated deaths in England during five heat episodes in summer 2025, with a 95% confidence interval of 936 to 2,072. The figures are in its heat mortality monitoring report for 2025, published on 2 April 2026.
Deaths were highest among people aged 85 and over, at 364 per million, and were concentrated in southern, central and eastern England. Reports for earlier years are in UKHSA's heat mortality monitoring collection; the estimate for summer 2026 had not been published by 13 October 2026.
These are statistical estimates of excess deaths during heat episodes, compared with a baseline, not counts of death certificates naming heat. From 2025 a heat episode is defined using Central England Temperature, so totals are not directly comparable with earlier reports.
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How many properties are at risk of flooding in England?
About 6.3 million homes and businesses in England are in areas at risk of flooding from rivers, the sea or surface water, according to the Environment Agency's national assessment of flood and coastal erosion risk, first published in December 2024. That includes about 2.4 million at risk from rivers and the sea and 4.6 million from surface water.
With climate change, the Environment Agency says the total at risk from these sources could rise to around 8 million by the middle of the century. About 1.1 million properties are in areas at high risk of surface water flooding.
The assessment used new methods and data, so it is not directly comparable with earlier totals. It covers England only. To check a specific address, see checking flood warnings and flood risk.
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How far back do UK weather records go?
The Central England Temperature series goes back to 1659 for monthly values and 1772 for daily values, and the Met Office describes it as the longest instrumental temperature record in the world. It represents a triangle of England between Lancashire, London and Bristol.
UK-wide series start later: rainfall in 1836, temperature in 1884 and sunshine in 1910, all in the Met Office UK and regional series, built from the HadUK-Grid dataset of station observations. Official national records, such as the highest and lowest temperatures, are on the UK climate extremes page.
When a claim says something is the warmest or wettest "since records began", check which series it means, as the start date can differ by more than two centuries.
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These answers say where official figures are published and how they are defined. They give no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request.