Weather and Climate summaries

Overview of weather across the UK for previous months, seasons and years

Those interested in climate change and predictions of future climates should also visit the Climate Change pages.

UK last month

August 2026

High pressure continued to be the dominating weather pattern during the first half of August, particularly across southern parts of the UK, leading to high daytime temperatures, very little rainfall and significant amounts of sunshine. The second half of the month saw increasingly unsettled conditions in the south, with occasionally heavy rainfall and thunderstorms across Wales and England. The northern half of the UK saw unsettled conditions for most of the month as low pressure brought weather fronts and occasionally thunderstorms as well as lower temperatures and more cloud than in southern parts. All areas saw increased temperatures from the 10^th to the 14^th, with parts of England and Wales reaching heatwave conditions. Wales set a new record maximum temperature for August on the 12^th (35.3°C recorded at Gogerddan). The 13^th saw temperatures provisionally reach 38.1°C at Kew Gardens in London, making it the 5^th hottest day on record for the UK. In the second half of the month, the arrival of rain in parts of the UK that had seen little if any rainfall since June led to reports of floods in some areas as the dry soil was inundated. Although the last week of the month saw rainfall across the UK, including heavy downpours and thunderstorms, much of the country still ended the month with below average rainfall.

Daily maximum temperatures were particularly high in the first half of the month, and although cooler weather in the second half of the month reduced the mean slightly England still closed out the month with the provisional fourth warmest August on record for mean daily maximum temperature and Wales the provisional joint fourth warmest. Mean temperatures were also above average, with the UK +1.4°C above the 1991-2020 average, although Scotland and Northern Ireland were closer to average (anomalies of 0.5°C and 0.7°C respectively). This was the seventh consecutive month where the UK recorded a mean temperature of more than 1°C above the long-term average and provisionally its joint sixth warmest August on record. England experienced its fourth warmest August on record for mean temperatures. Rainfall was below average for the UK, which recorded 81% of the average August rainfall. Although Scotland and Northern Ireland were wetter than England and Wales, neither of them recorded above average rainfall for the month, with only northern Scotland and parts of central England recording above average rainfall. Sunshine was above average for the UK (provisionally 114% of the long-term average), but below average for Scotland (provisionally 81% of average) and Northern Ireland (provisionally 71% of average).

The UK provisional monthly extremes were as follows: A maximum temperature of 38.1°C was recorded at Kew Gardens (Greater London) on the 13^th. A minimum temperature of -0.2°C was recorded at Braemar No 2 (Aberdeenshire) on the 22^nd. In the 24 hours ending at 0900 UTC on the 6^th, 74.6mm of rain fell at Fyvie Castle (Aberdeenshire). A wind gust of 61 knots (70 mph) was recorded at Wight: Needles Old Battery (Isle of Wight) on the 29^th.

Regional values for August 2026