Climate News

UK smashes its June heat record three days running, up to a provisional 37.7C

The UK's hottest June day on record was broken on three days in a row. The BBC reported 36.1C in Gosport, Hampshire, on 24 June, beating the 35.6C set in 1957 and 1976; the record then rose to 37.3C, and The Standard reported a provisional 37.7C at Lingwood in Norfolk on 26 June. Wales reached a June record of 35.6C in Cardiff, Jersey hit 39.3C, the Channel Islands' hottest day on record, and red extreme heat warnings ran for a third day.

The heat hit services hard. The Guardian reported that hospitals in England had declared critical incidents as machines and IT failed, and ITV News said Portsmouth's QA Hospital declared one after its cooling systems failed. More than 1,000 schools closed, trains were suspended as rails buckled, and the London Ambulance Service recorded its busiest day ever.

How each outlet framed it

• BBC News — the record race: three national highs in three days.
• The Standard — the provisional 37.7C from Norfolk.
• The Guardian — the strain on the NHS as equipment failed.
• ITV News — one hospital's critical incident in Portsmouth.
• Prothom Alo (AFP) — the international wire view, with the final monthly figures.

What happened next: AFP, published by Bangladesh's Prothom Alo, reported that England had its warmest June since records began in 1884, averaging 17.1C, and that World Weather Attribution said such temperatures would have been "virtually impossible" 50 years ago.

"The exceptional warmth was driven by an intense and record-breaking heatwave at the end of the month." — Met Office, via AFP