Temperature record or concern for water supply: summer is off to a hot start in the United Kingdom, which broke temperature records in June, the British meteorological services reported on Monday July 3. The phenomenon is likely to happen more with global warming, warned the Met Office.
June 2023 was thus the hottest month on record in terms of average, maximum and minimum temperature. The average temperature reached 15.8°C, 0.9°C higher than the previous record of 14.9°C seen in June 1940 and June 1976, the Met Office detailed.
The country experienced several hot days around mid-June, even leading authorities to impose water use reductions in the southeast of England, while Scotland worried about the water level in its rivers and lochs. “It’s officially the hottest month of June for the UK, in terms of average temperature, as well as minimum and maximum temperature”, with a high of 32.2 ° C reached, detailed Mark McCarthy of the British Meteorological Services quoted in a press release.
“What is striking is the persistence of the heat for much of the month, with temperatures well around 25°C, and even sometimes a little above 30°C,” he added.
Rainfall below average
The four nations of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) taken separately, also each had their hottest month of June. Precipitation was also below average, with just 52.2 mm of rain, or 68% of the average level for June month.
“Temperature records are falling like dominoes as our reliance on fossil fuels continues to warm the planet,” said Mel Evans, UK climate chief for Greenpeace, accusing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of remaining “asleep driving “.
Last week, Foreign Office Climate Secretary Zac Goldsmith resigned from the government, notably blaming Rishi Sunak for not caring about the environment and denouncing the government’s “apathy” on the climate.
According to a study by the Met Office, the likelihood of heat records being broken in the coming years has increased in the UK. “In addition to natural [climate] variability, the backdrop of warming Earth’s atmosphere due to human-induced climate change has increased the possibility of record high temperatures,” insists Paul Davies, Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office.
Drought and fires
England had its hottest summer last year, tied with 2018, while it was the fourth hottest for the whole of the UK, bringing severe drought and fires. Schools had to close and trains had been cancelled.
The 40°C threshold had been crossed for the first time (40.3°C recorded on July 20 in Coningsby, a village in the northeast of England), while the year 2022 was the hottest ever registered in the UK.
The British government had been accused of not taking the summer heat wave seriously. According to scientists, repeated high temperatures and heat waves are an unequivocal marker of global warming and are set to increase and intensify further.
Worried that the summer 2022 scenario will repeat itself this year, the government last week convened the National Drought Group to ensure there were no water supply problems in the coming months. . “Water levels are currently higher than at this time last year. However, the environment continues to take time to recover from the consequences of last summer,” the environment ministry said in a statement.