Britain Swelters in Hottest June Day on Record

On June 24, Britain recorded its hottest June temperature ever. The mercury climbed to 36.1 degrees Celsius in southern England, breaking a record that had stood since 1976. The old record was 35.6°C, set nearly 50 years ago. This made it the second month in a row that Britain broke a heat record. Scientists say climate change is causing heatwaves like this to happen more often and to get more intense.

The UK's national weather service, called the Met Office, said the record was broken several times during the afternoon. The highest temperature — 36.1°C — was recorded in Gosport, a town on England's south coast. Because of the extreme heat, the Met Office issued a rare red 'extreme heat' warning. This warning covered parts of central and southern England and Wales for June 24 and the whole day of June 25. A red warning is the most serious level and means the heat could be dangerous.

Even King Charles III felt the effects of the scorching weather. He had to be cooled with a portable fan while attending a reception in London as part of London Climate Week. Hundreds of schools across Britain were partly or fully closed during the peak of the heatwave. Teachers and parents were worried because many older school buildings in Britain are not built to handle hot summers. Train companies also cut back their services, warning passengers to avoid travel unless it was absolutely necessary.

Many ordinary people struggled to cope with the heat. London resident Yana Markevich said it was a 'struggle' to live in her flat with no air conditioning. She started a petition asking the government to make it easier for homeowners to install air conditioning, which is still rare in British homes. She had set up a portable AC unit and sealed her windows to prepare for the heat. 'I think sooner or later the UK will have to accept that proper cooling is becoming part of basic housing standards,' she told AFP.

Workers felt the heat too. A decorator named Aaron Timothy, 25, took a break in central London with a towel over his head. 'I'm practically swimming in my own sweat, which is not pleasant,' he said. Trade unions, which are groups that stand up for workers' rights, called for better conditions during extreme heat. The Unite union warned that temperatures inside bus driver cabs can rise above 40°C, which is even hotter than the air outside.

The heatwave also threatened museums and their collections. At the Grant Museum of Zoology at University College London, curator Tannis Davidson said one specimen jar had already broken because of the heat in 2025. Researchers were now thinking about carefully moving jars to safer places before they could break. 'It's our collective cultural heritage that we have to worry about beyond just living in the heat,' Davidson said. This shows that extreme heat can damage history and science, not just make people uncomfortable.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the weather was a reminder that climate change is 'one of the most significant challenges of our time.' Environmental group Greenpeace UK called on the government to cut the country's use of fossil fuels. 'The summer of '76 may be seared into the nation's memory, but it's quickly being overtaken by even more terrifying heatwaves,' said Greenpeace UK's Angharad Hopkinson. A report released the same day warned that Britain needs to speed up its switch to electric cars and heat pumps to meet its climate goals by 2030.