UK summer 2026: BBC postcode lookup shows how hot and dry it was

The UK faced its hottest summer on record this year, with much of the country experiencing drought and repeated heatwaves.

As a result, we can't show information for your location, but data for the entire UK is available below.

The maximum daily temperature was 21.3C on average, which is 2.4C above what it was for summer between 1991 and 2020.

Virtually all of the UK experienced above average temperatures, driven by repeated heatwaves.

Southern England and Wales saw heat far above usual. Temperatures were closer to normal across Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Across the country a total of 195mm of rain fell on average, which is 23% below what it was for summer between 1991 and 2020.

Summer months tend to be drier, but this year was exceptional. Only north-western Scotland saw more summer rain than usual, as droughts were declared across much of the rest of the UK.

This lookup uses data from the HadUK Grid dataset (opens in new tab), which is produced by the Met Office Hadley Centre. HadUK Grid is one of the main products used by scientists to monitor and research the UK’s changing climate.

The HadUK dataset displays temperature and rainfall data across a uniform grid covering the entire landmass of the UK. The data does not cover the Channel Islands. Every value on the grid is an estimate for the centre point of a 1km by 1km grid box, the most detailed climate data publicly available for the UK. The values are created using observations from land-based weather stations across the country, and by taking into account additional factors such as altitude, terrain and distance from the coast to scientifically “fill in the gaps” between weather stations.

The results displayed for each grid area represents a mean average of that grid cell and its nearest grid cells. For most areas, this represents a 5km square centred on the primary grid cell. Along irregular coastlines and on small islands, the nearest grid cells are chosen to match the shape of the coastline or island, but no cells are further than 7km away.

This approach aims to avoid sharp jumps between neighbouring locations which may occasionally arise due to uncertainties in the data, while still making use of the most detailed dataset available to capture local weather conditions across the UK's varied geography.