This month's heat prompts a look at the UK's most extreme Augusts. We explore heatwaves, droughts, and the conditions that led to recent wildfires, putting our recent weather in historical context.
In the long-running Central England Temperature series from 1659, the summer of 2025 is currently looking likely to end up roughly tied with 1976 as the UK’s hottest summer on record. August 2025 will not be as warm as August 2022, but has a chance of ending up as the second warmest August since 2003.
August 2003 had a heatwave in the first 10 days which was record breaking at the time. Temperatures reached the mid-30s Celsius in places during the first nine days, and on the 10th they crept above 38C in the south-east, which beat the UK temperature record at that time. The August 2003 heatwave was however more prolonged than the July 2022 one, and although temperatures from the 11th onwards were generally unexceptional, the intensity of the hot first third of the month still raised the month’s mean temperature well above the long-term average.
The heatwave was more remarkable in France, where from the 3rd to 13th, daytime temperatures reached between 35 and 40C over a large area, sometimes creeping above 40C, and night time temperatures often struggled to drop below 20C, especially in urban areas. At Auxerre, Yonne, the temperature exceeded 40C on eight consecutive days. I happened to be on holiday in France during the heatwave, and ended up cutting the holiday a couple of days short because the heat got too much. It has been estimated that the heatwave was associated with 14,802 heat-related deaths in France.
The hottest August for Central England and for the UK as a whole remains that of 1995. August 1995 was also one of the driest and sunniest Augusts on record. It was particularly hot at the start of the month with temperatures of around 35C in the south-east, and generally hot and sunny weather persisted until the 22nd, with temperatures frequently exceeding 30C. After the 22nd the weather turned cooler, cloudier and more changeable but still not particularly wet, and high pressure rebuilt after the 27th. Although the beginning of August hit the mid-30s Celsius, the summer of 1995 was generally noteworthy for frequent hot weather starting in the last third of June and persisting through to the last third of August, rather than for the intensity.
For the UK as a whole, the driest and sunniest August on record was that of 1947. Remarkably, some regions that are traditionally among the wettest parts of the UK during August, notably in western Scotland, recorded no measurable rain during August 1947, and western Scotland was particularly dry and sunny relative to normal. Temperatures were also just a few tenths of a degree down on those for August 1995. However, in eastern England August 1947 had some low cloud off the North Sea at times and so August 1995 generally had higher sunshine totals in eastern England.
The other outstandingly dry sunny August was that of 1976, which was not generally as hot as those of 1947 and 1995 (the peak of the hot weather in 1976 was in late June and early July), but had a similar setup with high pressure generally covering the country. In the Met Office UK sunshine series, the Augusts of 1947, 1995 and 1976 really stand out, with 240+ hours of sunshine. August 2022 recently slotted into fourth place with a UK mean of 208.5 hours.
A commonly overlooked hot August was that of 1997, which averaged over the UK was just two tenths of a degree cooler than that of 1995. It was regularly hot between the 8th and 22nd, with temperatures frequently exceeding 27C and sometimes exceeding 30C in places. It is often forgotten mainly because sunshine and rainfall totals for the month were not generally exceptional and there was often an emphasis on warm nights. Other notably hot Augusts occurred in 1975 and recently 2022, and although averaged nationally these were not as hot as 1995, 1997 or 1947, over limited areas of the UK they ranked as the hottest on record.
August 2025 will not match those three Augusts sunshine wise, mainly due to the spell leading up to the Bank Holiday which saw extensive stratocumulus off the North Sea, though most regions of the country still look set to come out with above average sunshine.
But until the Bank Holiday, for many areas of the country it had been comparably dry to the Augusts of 1947, 1976 and 1995 up to that point. This has contributed to an exceptional wildfire over the North York Moors, which is reported to have been ongoing for two weeks. It has recently been contained, but parts of the North York Moors are still burning. The fire covers about 10 square miles between Scarborough and Whitby. Remarkably considering the widespread nature of the blaze, no injuries to firefighters or loss of property have been reported. The dry surface conditions and susceptibility to wildfires is down to a long run of warm/hot and dry weather that started in March 2025. Since March, only July has produced near average rainfall in Yorkshire and the other months have been much drier than average.
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