New official figures from the Met Office have revealed that England experienced its joint hottest summer on record.
Provisional figures show the summer of 2022 spanning June, July, and August had an average temperature of 17.1C, tying with 2018, making it the warmest on record since recording began way back in 1884. It also means that four out of five of England's warmest summers have occurred since 2003 - believed to be a symptom of human-induced climate change.
The records include the most recent record-breaking heat in July which saw a sweltering temperature over 40C for the first time ever. Another side effect of England's recent high temperatures and low rainfall is drought, causing rivers to dry up, damaging crops, and fuelling wildfires that have caused severe damage to homes and land.
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Dr Mark McCarthy, of the National Climate Information Centre, said: “For many, this summer’s record-breaking heat in July – where temperatures reached 40.3C at Coningsby in Lincolnshire – will be the season’s most memorable aspect. However, for England to achieve its joint warmest summer takes more than extreme heat over a couple of days, so we shouldn’t forget that we experienced some persistently warm and hot spells through June and August too.”
Dr McCarthy added: "It is too early to speculate on how the year overall will finish, but the persistent warm conditions are certainly notable and have certainly been made more likely by climate change.”
Despite a new bout of rainfall over the past few weeks, the UK overall has only received 54 per cent of average rainfall in August.
Meanwhile, England received only 35 per cent of its normal rain for the end-of-summer month. It means August is now on the list of dry months in 2022, with the year so far being the driest since the drought of 1976, according to Met Office figures.
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