Will we see more heatwaves this summer?
Over the past two months the UK has faced two heatwaves that shattered major long-standing temperature records.
This hasn’t happened since 1911.
And we are relatively early in the summer, with the hottest weather normally occurring in late July and August.
While the current June heatwave will gradually end over the weekend with a return to more average conditions next week, there are already signs that we may see more heatwaves this summer.
The weather has been a roller-coaster ride since May, with a large area of high pressure known as the ‘heat dome’ bringing dry, sunny and very hot weather to the UK. A new May record was set at Kew Gardens in London with 35.1C.
June – and the beginning of meteorological summer – then began with wetter and much cooler weather, with temperatures dropping well below average.
Low pressure from the Atlantic brought with it a series of adverse weather events, with precipitation for the whole of June occurring only in the first half of the month.
Weather patterns changed again and, in a dramatic twist, we were treated to another intense heatwave with the all-time temperature record for June being broken.
