June this year is provisionally on track to be hottest month on record since records began in 1884, beating previous records set in, June 1976 and 1940.
The Met Office said that there is only a few more days left of the month and the temperature has fallen since the weekend.
The Met Office’s Mike Kendon said: “With only a few days of near-average temperatures forecast for the remainder of the month, overall this June will turn out to be provisionally the hottest June on record for the UK for both mean and average maximum temperature.
“Meteorologically, June started with high pressure over the UK bringing often settled and dry conditions with plenty of sunshine.
“Once that high pressure subsided, warm, humid air took charge over the UK, with 32.2C the highest temperature recorded so far this month and high temperatures for the vast majority of the UK.
“What has been particularly unusual is the persistent warmth for much of the month, with temperatures reaching 25C widely for at least a fortnight, and at times 28 to 30C – whereas we would more typically expect maximum temperatures in the high teens or low 20s at this time of year.”
He added, “While the UK has always had periods of warm weather, what climate change does is increase the frequency and intensity of these warm weather events, increasing the likelihood of high temperature records being broken, like we saw for 2022’s annual temperature for the UK.
“It is particularly telling that of the 12 months of the year, for UK average maximum temperature the records for the warmest months include 2019 (February), 2018 (May), 2015 (December), 2012 (March), 2011 (April), 2011 (November), 2006 (July) and now 2023 (June).
“Statistics such as this clearly tell us of the changing nature of the UK’s climate and how it is particularly affecting extremes.”
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