Warm or hot weather was persistent in the UK throughout most of June 2023, with temperatures peaking at 32°C in parts of south-east England. Although well short of last July’s record 40°C, for large parts of England the last time June was this hot was in 1846 – almost 180 years ago.
The Met Office keeps a detailed national and regional temperature database extending back to 1884, and 2023 now appears certain to claim the title for the hottest June during that period for the whole of the UK.
There are too few reliable long-term temperature records to extend the series to the whole of the UK prior to 1884, and before that scientists rely on a composite regional database known as the Central England Temperature series, or CET. The CET series draws on records from a roughly triangular area bounded by Lancashire, London and Bristol.
