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Britain's heatwave summer was joint-hottest ever for UK

A couple relaxes on the beach at Clacton-on-Sea in Essex. (PA Images)
A couple relaxes on the beach at Clacton-on-Sea in Essex. (PA Images)

Britain’s scorching summer was the joint-hottest on record for the UK, the Met Office revealed today.

UK temperatures for June to August reveal that 2018 topped 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.

The scene on Brighton beach as temperatures soared during June, 1976. (PA Wire)
The scene on Brighton beach as temperatures soared during June, 1976. (PA Wire)
 A walker looks out from British Camp in the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire during this year's heatwave. (PA Images)
A walker looks out from British Camp in the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire during this year’s heatwave. (PA Images)

This is consistent with the general picture of the climate warming globally and in the UK, the Met Office said.

And autumn looks set to get off to a good start, with high pressure dominating the UK’s weather, with warm, dry and sunny days for many in the first part of September, the forecasters said.

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.

Recorded temperatures for September; highest ever was 35.6C recorded in South Yorkshire. (PA Images)
Recorded temperatures for September; highest ever was 35.6C recorded in South Yorkshire. (PA Images)

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The heatwave caused widespread drought, hosepipe bans, crop failures, and a number of wildfires.

The highest recorded temperature this year was 35.1C in Surrey.

Faversham in Kent experienced the UK’s highest ever recorded temperature of 38.5C in 2003.