As meteorological summer begins, many people may be wondering what the months ahead could bring. Will this be a season of long dry spells, repeated heatwaves or more changeable conditions?  

While past records cannot tell us exactly what summer 2026 will bring, it can show us something just as important. UK summers are generally getting warmer, and many of the most notable summers with record-breaking temperatures now belong to recent years.  

In the charts below, we explore where the warmest and coolest summers sit in the historical record, how recent standout years compare with well-known summers such as 1976, and what extremes in June, July and August reveal about the way summer heat is now being felt.

Click here for the full press release