UK summer set to be four-day fire ravages

WALES has broken records for its hottest August bank holiday Monday ever after the mercury climbed to 29.1°C in Hawarden, Flintshire.

- GEORGE LITHGOW, IAN JONES and ELLIE GOSLEY

The previous Welsh record stood at 26.5°C from 1991.

Northern Ireland also recorded its hottest ever August Bank Holiday Monday with 24.5°C in Magilligan, Londonderry, well above its previous high of 23.8°C.

It comes as a long spell of above-average temperatures means this summer will "almost certainly" be the UK's warmest on record, according to new figures from the Met Office.

The country would have to see several days of below-average temperatures between now and the end of the month for 2025 to miss out on the top spot. Such a scenario is not suggested by the latest forecast.

The mean average temperature for the season stands at 16.13°C, based on data up to August 25.

This is higher than the existing summer record of 15.76°C, which was set in 2018.

"Unless temperatures are around four degrees below average for the rest of August - which the forecast does not suggest - it looks like the current record will be exceeded," Met Office scientist Emily Carlisle said.

"Of course, there are still a few days left of meteorological summer to go but it's very unlikely anything will stop summer 2025 from being the warmest on record."

If this season is confirmed as setting a new high for average temperature, it will mean all of the UK's top five warmest summers will have occurred since the year 2000.

The top five are currently 2018 (15.76°C), 2006 (15.75°C), 2003 (15.74°C), 2022 (15.71°C) and 1976 (15.70°C).

Met Office temperature data for the UK begins in 1884.

Four heatwaves hit the UK this summer, all of which saw temperatures climb above 30°C, though none was quite as fierce as the heatwave of July 2022 when an all-time high of 40.3°C was reached.