July looks like it will be one of the warmest on record for much of the UK.
The Met Office’s provisional statistics up to 30 July show Wales on course for it warmest July for mean temperature, which is the average across each 24-hour period.
By the same measure, England looks on course for its joint warmest July and Northern Ireland its third warmest.
Scotland is not on course for mean July temperatures within its top 10.
Whilst maximum temperatures have not set records, July’s high so far being 35.5C at Wisley in Surrey on the 9th, compared to July’s record of 40.3C set in 2022 in Coningsby, Lincolnshire, mean temperatures across southern England have been particularly high, at 3.2C above average.
England is on track this year for the highest number of heat-related deaths since records began, according to estimates by the UK Health Security Agency.
In a preliminary assessment, it said there were an estimated 2,877 heat-related deaths during the May and June heatwaves, almost double the figure for the whole of last year.
The UK has had seven days with temperatures over 35C so far this year, beating the previous record of five set in 1976 and equalled in 2020.
There have been 31 days with temperatures over 30C, not far off the record of 34 days set in 1995 and comfortably beating 1976, which had 24 days.