England and Wales see warmest spring on record this year
Some areas in the UK saw six consecutive days where the temperature was above 30°C
England and Wales have had their warmest spring on record, the Met Office has confirmed.
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The months of March, April and May, which make up the spring season, were ranked within the UK’s top 10 warmest since records began in 1884. The past three years mark the warmest springs on record.
The record-breaking spring follows an early and unusual heat in late May, which smashed UK temperature records. Several areas recorded six consecutive 30 °C days.
Dr Emily Carlisle, Scientist at the Met Office, said: "This spring highlights both the natural variability of the UK's weather and the longer-term warming we are observing”.
“While we expect fluctuations from year to year, this spring shows some of the changes we're seeing in our weather patterns, with more extreme conditions becoming more frequent,” she added.
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“The fact that nine of the 10 warmest springs in England have occurred since 2007 illustrates this ongoing shift in the UK's climate."
The unseasonal heat was matched with widespread sunshine, pushing all four UK nations' temperatures to above average levels.
This year marked the UK’s fourth sunniest spring since 1910, when records began. England saw its third, Wales saw its joint eighth, and Scotland its ninth sunniest.
Spring 2026 also saw exceptionally dry weather in parts of southern and eastern England, with counties like Cambridgeshire and Kent enjoying just a third of their usual rainfall.
The driest spot in the UK was Shoeburyness in Essex, which had just 26% of "normal" rainfall between March and May.
Parts of Scotland and northern England, on the other hand, saw wetter than normal conditions throughout spring.
Climate change has seen average temperatures in the UK pushed up by around 1.2 °C compared to the pre-industrial age, resulting in increasingly extreme and intense heat events across the planet.
The Met Office's latest State of the UK Climate report states that the number of days in the UK with temperatures above 28 °C has more than doubled.
The number of days with temperatures above 30 °C has more than trebled over the last decade, compared to averages across 1961-1990.
The nation’s hottest and sunniest spring on record is still set at 2025, but spring 2026 was close, ranking as the third warmest and fourth sunniest.