UK twice as likely to have hot summer this year, says Met Office

Temperatures were 8C above average for the time of year on 31 May, the last day of meteorological spring. Photograph: Joel Goodman/The Guardian

The UK is twice as likely as usual to have a hot summer this year, the Met Office has predicted, warning that there is also an increased risk of heatwaves.

The predictions follow the country’s sunniest spring on record, with the UK clocking up 630 hours of sunshine since the start of March, in what has also been the driest spring for more than a century.