By Anders Lorenzen

Unprecedented late Spring heat is spreading across large parts of Europe, causing the creation of new temperature records as well as widespread heatwaves. This is before the summer has officially begun.

On Monday, the UK shattered it’s all time May temperature record of 32.8 degrees C. On Sunday, the country had recorded its warmest day of 2026 with 32.3 C recorded in Kew Gardens in west London. The record-breaking temperatures set on Monday did not only beat the previous May record, set in 1944, but beat it convincingly by two degrees, with Kew Gardens measuring 34.8 C.

UK declares early heatwave

In addition to the temperature record, the UK has also officially entered its first heatwave of 2026, as the thresholds for at least three days at or above 28 °C in southern England (including London) have been met. Different regions across the UK has different thresholds; the threshold for southern England is the highest in the UK.

Experts say that the extreme heat bears the hallmarks of climate change, with the country’s Met Office saying that the likelihood of breaking the 32.8 C record is around three times more likely now in our current climate, ravaged by the impacts of climate change, than it would have been in natural climate conditions prior to the Industrial Revolution. 

Amber heat alerts have been issued for several UK regions, with special warnings issued to children, the elderly, vulnerable people and those with pre-existing health conditions. People have been reminded to stay vigilant and pay attention to hydration – taking more water breaks than usual and avoiding strenuous exercise during the middle of the day when the heat is strongest.

The UK’s short-term to mid-term weather forecasting shows that the heat will stay for the foreseeable future, with temperatures remaining in the high 20s for at least the next 7-10 days, with only Wednesday next week offering some relief, with temperatures temporarily dropping to around 23 C. Longer-term forecasts suggest that for the next month temperatures will stay above average.

What’s causing the heat?

There is not just one factor, but several contributing factors to the unprecedented extreme heat event. 

In addition to winds transporting hot air from northern Africa and southern Europe, high pressure over and near the UK is pointed out by the Met Office as the main driver. They explain that as this high-pressure strengthens, it causes sinking air in the atmosphere. This leads to a compression of the air as it moves forward, which then results in temperature increases. 

The heat event engulfing not only the UK is a fast-moving event, and we can expect more records to be broken across the European continent as well as the UK. 

No rapid attribution study has yet been produced about the event, but as the Met Office statement indicates, while we can’t fully attribute the event to climate change, we can say that the likelihood as well as the severity of the event is significantly increased by climate change.

Anders Lorenzen is the founding Editor of A greener life, a greener world.