June was the hottest June on record in, the country's weather agency said. The average mean temperature of 15.8C in the country beats the previous record of 14.9C (set in both 1940 and 1976) by 0.9C. It was the hottest June since records began in 1884, Met Office's Mark McCarthy said.
“It's officially the hottest June on record for the UK, for mean temperature as well as average maximum and minimum temperature. June started with a good deal of high pressure and temperatures initially around average for many, but once that subsided, warm, humid air began to influence temperatures, with 32.2C the highest temperatures reached. What's striking is the persistent warmth for much of the month, with temperatures widely into the mid 20Cs for many and even into the low 30s at times,” Mark McCarthy said.
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Across the UK, 72 counties set their hottest June since 1957, including Surrey, Somerset and Orkney. Paul Davies, Met Office climate extremes principal fellow and chief meteorologist said, “The background warming of the Earth's atmosphere due to human induced climate change has driven up the possibility of reaching record high temperatures.”
“Alongside natural variability, the background warming of the Earth's atmosphere due to human induced climate change has driven up the possibility of reaching record high temperatures,” the weather agency said, adding, “Using our... climate projections, we can also see that there is a difference in the frequency of these sorts of extremes depending on the emissions scenario we follow in the future. By the 2050s the chance of surpassing the previous record of 14.9C could be as high as around 50%, or every other year.”
{{/usCountry}}“Alongside natural variability, the background warming of the Earth's atmosphere due to human induced climate change has driven up the possibility of reaching record high temperatures,” the weather agency said, adding, “Using our... climate projections, we can also see that there is a difference in the frequency of these sorts of extremes depending on the emissions scenario we follow in the future. By the 2050s the chance of surpassing the previous record of 14.9C could be as high as around 50%, or every other year.”
{{/usCountry}}June 2023 was also the sunniest since 1957, while rainfall was at only 68% of its average even though July started slightly cooler with many parts of the UK experiencing rain.