Met Office Confirms: Climate Change Behind UK’s Record 34.7°C Heatwave

Experts are linking the extreme heat in the UK this June to climate change. The Met Office confirmed that this month’s soaring temperatures of nearly 35°C can largely be attributed to global warming, and this trend is only expected to continue.

On July 1, St James’s Park in central London experienced the hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures reaching 34.7°C. This heatwave followed a month already marked by two earlier heat events, making June 2025 the second warmest since records began in 1884.

Dr. Amy Doherty, a climate scientist from the Met Office, emphasized that while they haven’t yet published formal studies on this specific heatwave, past research consistently links human activities to increased heat frequencies and intensities. Similar studies have shown that events like the summer of 2018 and July 2022 were intensified by human-caused climate change.

Looking at recent history, the 2022 heatwave set records too, with temperatures exceeding 40°C for the first time in the UK. That summer resulted in over 3,000 heat-related deaths. Dr. Garyfallos Konstantinoudis from the Grantham Institute notes that the health impact of the current heatwave won’t be fully understood until the season ends. He previously reported that the total mortality toll due to extreme heat in Europe during the summer of 2022 reached 61,672, with about half of those deaths attributed to climate change.

This summer’s heatwave has been strikingly similar to past events in terms of its early-season severity. Notably, researchers are alarmed that climate change is making heatwaves more intense and frequent worldwide.

Dr. Ben Clarke, a research associate at Imperial College London, explains that while warm periods in June would still occur without climate change, these hotter temperatures now pose risks. Vulnerable groups, especially the elderly and those with existing health issues, face greater dangers in this new climate reality. Staying hydrated and seeking shade are critical, yet the growing intensity of heatwaves makes even “nice” weather potentially harmful.

The Met Office warns that we should expect more intense heatwaves in the future, with temperatures possibly exceeding 45°C.

For more information on the relationship between climate change and extreme weather, check out this comprehensive report from NASA on the impacts of climate change.

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UK Weather, The Met Office, Environment