September was UK's joint-fourth warmest on record as 2026 closes in on hottest year in history

From the Newshound archive · first published 1 October 2026 · last updated 2 October 2026.

Eight months in a row of above-average temperatures have put 2026 on course to be one of the UK's warmest years ever, the Met Office has confirmed. September's mean temperature came in at 14.6C — 1.6C above the long-term norm — with Northern Ireland recording its latest-ever date for a temperature above 25C. The Environment Agency's Philip Duffy warned that weeks of September rain were nowhere near enough to end the drought left by a record hot summer.

September followed provisionally the hottest UK summer on record, which pushed over 70 per cent of the country into official drought conditions.

The 28.1C peak recorded at Kew Gardens on 29 September made it the third warmest September England has ever seen.

Met Office scientist Mike Kendon said the warmth 'fits with the general pattern of more frequent above-average temperatures as our climate continues to change.'