Summer 2018 was hottest ever, Met Office announces

Hot weather likely to continue into autumn, say experts

A bather leaps into the water at the mixed-pond on Hampstead Heath in London on July 26, 2018. - Britain has been in the grip of its longest heatwave in decades, sparking wildfires in northwest England, water restrictions in Northern Ireland and record-breaking temperatures in Scotland (TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images)

Summer 2018 was the hottest ever, the Met Office has announced.

It had the highest temperatures ever for England, and the joint-hottest in the UK.

The autumn is expected to see similarly warm weather, the meteorologists said.

UK temperatures for June to August 2018 reveal that this year is top of the league table in records dating back to 1910, along with 2006, 2003 and 1976, all of which are within 0.03C of each other.

England saw its hottest summer on record, with average temperatures narrowly beating those seen in 1976, but it is not the warmest for the other nations of the UK, the figures show.

Summer 2018 was notably dry and sunny too, although the dry, sweltering conditions seen in much of the country in June and July gave way to a much more average August, the Met Office said.

The Met Office's three-month outlook – covering August, September and October – shows "an increased chance of high-pressure patterns close to the UK".

Sea surface temperatures at "near-record levels" following the hot weather also make above-average temperatures more likely, according to the long-range prediction system.

The report said: "This would result in more settled UK weather conditions overall.

"The likelihood of above-average temperatures is greater than normal, but while the chances of below-average temperatures are considerably smaller, they remain a realistic possibility."

Additional reporting by Press Association