The UK continues to grapple with the effects of extreme heat and drought, as wildfires rage and warnings suggest dry conditions may persist into autumn. The country has experienced its fourth heatwave of the summer, with temperatures exceeding 35°C, while health authorities indicate the UK is on track for the highest number of heat-related deaths since records began.
Half of England is officially in drought. In the latest wildfire, properties were evacuated as firefighters battled a large heathland blaze on the Suffolk coast at Dunwich Heath. Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service stated that Sizewell B nuclear power station was not at risk due to the distance and direction of the fire, but described it as a “live and dynamic situation.”
Record temperatures and heat-related deaths
The blaze broke out amid soaring temperatures, reaching 35.2°C in Writtle, Essex, on Wednesday, marking the seventh day of 2026 with a high of 35°C or more. Before this year, the record was five such days, set in 1976 and matched in 2020. Temperature records have fallen throughout the summer, with heatwaves in May and June both setting new highs for their respective months.
The UK is increasingly suffering from the impacts of extreme weather, such as droughts and severe heatwaves, fueled by human-caused climate change, primarily from burning fossil fuels. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) stated it “is likely that 2026 could see the highest number of heat-associated deaths on record,” surpassing the number seen in 2022 when the agency began studying them. Data shows there have been almost double the number of excess deaths caused by heatwaves so far this year compared to all of last summer.
A new report estimates there were 2,877 heat-associated deaths during the May and June heatwaves: 753 during the May heatwave (May 24-27) and 2,124 during the June heatwave (June 21-28). An earlier analysis by Imperial College London, the Met Office, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine projected 2,700 excess deaths for those periods and warned that two-fifths were due to extra heat caused by climate change.
Drought and impacts on water, agriculture
Half of England, along with about half of Wales, is now officially in drought, despite a very wet winter, as an extremely dry July compounded a dry spring. Successive heatwaves have pressured water resources. While temperatures are cooling into the weekend and some unsettled weather is expected next week, it is unlikely to deliver the persistent, heavy rain needed to make up for the shortfall. The Met Office outlook suggests August could be hotter and drier than usual, with warmer, drier conditions potentially continuing beyond next month, meaning autumn may arrive before the wet weather needed to recharge supplies.
Some 23 million customers are under hosepipe bans, nearly 1,400 businesses have had to stop abstracting water, and the dry, hot conditions have hit river flows, wildlife, crops, and livestock. The harvest has come early, with some crops like cereals experiencing poorer yields. Livestock farmers are using winter feed due to poor grass growth, and even those with on-farm reservoirs may run out of supply during August in drought areas. Warnings indicate that hard-baked earth will cause issues for harvesting crops such as potatoes and carrots.
Farmers are calling for efforts to make agriculture more resilient to climate change, including easier construction of on-farm reservoirs and flexible abstraction licenses to take and store water when it rains.
UK and Spain joint statement on climate emergency
In response to the heatwaves and wildfires affecting much of Europe, the UK and Spain issued a joint statement warning that climate change is “a national security emergency” threatening people’s way of life. After a meeting between Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and Spain’s foreign minister José Manuel Albares Bueno, the statement said addressing the climate crisis was an urgent priority to tackle the cost of living, protect health and wellbeing, and ensure European economic and energy security. “At a time when Europe is facing record heatwaves and terrible wildfires as a consequence of the climate crisis, the two Ministers agreed that this summer’s wildfires demonstrated that climate change was now a national security emergency facing Europe and threatening our way of life,” the statement said.
