August was the joint hottest month ever observed, tying with July 2023, as the most severe super El Ni帽o on record amplified temperatures already heightened by global warming.

The monthly mean temperature was 1.65掳C above pre-industrial levels, according to the European Union鈥檚 Copernicus Climate Change Service. Humans have not experienced temperatures warmer than this summer in the past 100,000 years, according to at Copernicus.

August was also a record-warm month for the extra-polar ocean 鈥� the regions lying just outside the Arctic and Antarctic circles 鈥� peaking at 21.1掳C, the hottest temperature ever observed in the sea surface. That included unprecedented temperatures in the tropical Pacific, where winds have slackened and warm waters have been sloshing back towards the eastern Pacific, creating the strong El Ni帽o.

鈥淎ugust 2026 is remarkable not simply because it鈥檚 yet another temperature record that鈥檚 been broken but because multiple parts of the climate system have reached unprecedented levels at the same time,鈥� she says.

The records will keep being broken as the El Ni帽o intensifies through December, she predicts, with some months likely to be as much as 2掳C above average.

The record August temperature caps off western Europe鈥檚 hottest summer on record. That warmth drives extreme weather and climate catastrophes. It makes heatwaves more likely and allows the atmosphere to hold more moisture, worsening storms.

Four major heatwaves in Europe, as well as severe drought, fuelled massive wildfires near cities like Bordeaux in France and Madrid in Spain and lowered water levels in major rivers to reveal everything from long-lost woolly mammoth bones to Nazi boats.

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At least in Europe during the heatwaves than would be statistically expected, and including wheat are expected to be lower than usual.

The heat in August was also linked to a glacier collapse that destroyed several towns in Nepal and Tibet, with at least 1300 people dead and more than 5500 still missing.

鈥淔or every degree of warming, the extreme events鈥� intensify, so in summer we get more frequent, more intense, more longer-lasting heatwaves,鈥� Burgess says. 鈥淭his obviously has a direct impact on our food security.鈥�

In light of the temperature record, the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) 鈥� a UK-based think tank 鈥� called on leaders meeting in November for the COP31 climate summit to both reverse the rise in greenhouse gas emissions and also invest more in adapting to the current impacts.

Why the extremes of climate breakdown will continue to take us by surprise

The relentless heatwaves that have hit the northern hemisphere this summer have made the climate threat real for many 鈥� but preparation and adaptation will take us only so far

鈥淭he task now is to match the scale of the science with the scale of action鈥� accelerating the transition away from coal, oil and gas to bring our climate back into balance,鈥� , international lead at the ECIU, said in a statement.

The United Nations Environment Programme said this month that the world will 鈥渙vershoot鈥� the Paris Agreement goal of preventing warming of more than 1.5掳C and should now focus on reversing this warming at a later date, including with approaches like carbon dioxide removal. 聽

鈥淭he sooner we can bring temperatures back down, the less time we overshoot, the better it will be for our climate system,鈥� says Burgess.

鈥淚 often get asked whether this is the 鈥榥ew normal鈥�. The simple answer is no,鈥� at Imperial College London said in a statement. 鈥淯ntil we stop burning fossil fuels, these records will continue to tumble, and the extremes will worsen faster than we are able to adapt.鈥�

The UK鈥檚 dry, hot and sunny summer has provisionally entered the record books as the hottest season for the country since records began in 1884.

The average temperature for the months of June, July and August was 16.5掳C (61.7掳F), the national weather service, the Met Office, said on 1 September, blowing through the previous summer record of 16.1掳C (61掳F)鈥� set just last year.

鈥淭he conditions we鈥檝e seen this summer have broken UK climate records once again,鈥� said at the Met Office in a statement.

Summer in the UK began with the second warmest June on record, followed by the second-warmest July. But the heat remained almost constant throughout the three-month period, with 38掳C (100.4掳F) recorded for the first time in June in Norfolk, and 38.1掳C (100.6掳F) recorded at Kew Gardens in London on 13 August.

Much of England is now in the grip of a severe drought after rainfall vanished from many parts of the country during July. The hot, dry conditions have damaged crops, strained healthcare systems and triggered severe wildfires.

Fossil fuel emissions fuelled the high temperatures, with climate change making a summer like 2026 around 130 times more likely to occur, the Met Office said.

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鈥淚n a climate unaffected by human emissions of greenhouse gases, a summer like this would be exceptionally unlikely, i.e. 1 in over 1,000 years,鈥� at the Met Office said in a statement. 鈥淚n our current climate, which is changing because of the effect of burning of fossil fuels, we should now expect this to be roughly a 1 in 9 year event.鈥�

The top five warmest summers for the UK have all occurred since 2003. This trend will only intensify in the future as rising global temperatures cause summers in the UK to be increasingly hot and dry. Under 4掳C of warming, the summer just gone would be considered cool or below average for the UK, the Met Office said.

In response to the announcement, at the World Wildlife Fund said in a statement: 鈥淭hese stark figures prove what we have been experiencing first hand, we are getting hotter and hotter. And the climate will continue to heat up until we cut our emissions to net zero.鈥�

Picture the world 100 or 200 years from now. What are you imagining? Hotter temperatures, melting glaciers or alpine places without snow? With heatwaves happening across Europe this summer, it’s not that hard to visualise.

Now picture Europe in a deep freeze where temperatures hit -20掳C in London. Both of these scenarios might be the future we’re heading for, thanks to climate change. And there’s an even more worrying indicator: while almost the entire planet has been warming, there’s one patch in the North Atlantic Ocean just south of Greenland where temperatures have been falling.

精东传媒s call it the “cold blob”, and some think it could be a warning that one of Earth’s most important climate systems is beginning to change and may soon hit a tipping point where climate change no longer happens gradually. If this system flips, it could have devastating consequences that change all of our lives as we know them.

Winter has traditionally been the most deadly season in the UK. But that is changing, thanks to searing summer heatwaves, with the number of heat-related deaths in England and Wales each year now rivalling deaths from cold weather.

Across England and Wales, just over 40,000 more people died on the hottest days between 1988 and 2025 than would be expected under normal temperatures, new figures released today by the UK鈥檚 Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.

By comparison, across the 37-year period, almost 139,000 deaths were associated with the coldest days.

But as summer temperatures rise, the number of heat-related and cold-related deaths each year is starting to converge, the ONS said.

In 1992, hot weather was associated with the deaths of 722 people, compared to 3412 deaths for cold weather. By 2023, hot weather was linked to 2234 deaths in England and Wales, with cold weather during the same year linked to 3294 deaths.

The ONS estimated deaths associated with the coldest 2.5 per cent and hottest 2.5 per cent of days between 1988 and 2025, accounting for other factors such as air pollution.

A series of hot summers, fuelled by a warming climate, has driven the trend in rising heat deaths. All five of the UK鈥檚 warmest summers on record have occurred since 2000, with 2022 being the first summer to record a 40掳C day in the UK. Deaths associated with hot weather have been rising since 2011.

The ONS data didn鈥檛 include 2026 in its assessment, but prolonged high temperatures and successive heatwaves mean England is widely expected to log a record number of heat-related deaths this summer. In July, the UK鈥檚 Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said heatwaves in May and June 2026 had caused 2877 heat-associated deaths in England, almost double the entire 2025 total. That is also higher than the total number of deaths associated with cold weather in England during winter 2024-25, which the UKHSA has at 2544, raising the possibility that heat-related deaths in 2026 could outstrip cold-related deaths for the first time on record.

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Summer heat is 鈥渘ow killing almost as many people as winter cold each year in England and Wales,鈥� said at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment in London in a statement. 鈥淭he deaths during the record heat of summer 2026 may be higher than the mortality we experienced last winter.鈥�

聽at the University of Surrey says the gap between hot weather deaths and cold weather deaths is 鈥渘arrowing a lot quicker than anyone anticipated it would鈥�. Without action to help people better cope with high temperatures, we will see 鈥渉igh and rapid growth鈥� in the number of hot weather deaths in the UK over the coming years, he warns.

Climate change is expected to bring even hotter, drier summers to the UK, further increasing the public health risk. Already, more than half of UK homes are at risk of overheating during hot weather 鈥� that is projected to rise to 92 per cent by 2050, according to the UK鈥檚 Climate Change Committee.

at Warwick University, UK, says factors such as聽age, chronic disease, social isolation and housing conditions all determine how vulnerable a person is to extreme heat. 鈥淲hether deaths from heat will ultimately exceed deaths from cold is still unclear, yet that may not even be the most relevant question,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he more urgent concern is that heat-related mortality is rising, and many of these deaths could be avoided. How far this pattern persists will depend not just on future warming, but also on how well we adjust our homes, communities, health systems, and cities to a hotter climate.鈥�