The sizzling heatwave at the end of May has secured this spring a place in history, as it has been declared the warmest in England and Wales since records began. Provisional statistics from the Met Office reveal that the 2025 spring season recorded the highest mean temperature in England and Wales and the third highest for the UK as a whole.
During the heatwave, six consecutive days saw temperatures exceed 30°C (86°F) in some areas, with the highest reading of 35.1°C (95.2°F) recorded at Kew Gardens in West London on Tuesday, May 27. England's mean spring temperature of 10.41°C (50.7°F) surpassed last year's record of 10.23°C (50.4°F), making the three warmest springs on record 2026, 2025, and 2024. Notably, nine of the ten warmest springs since records began in 1884 have occurred since 2007.
Met Office scientist Dr. Emily Carlisle commented: 'All three months of meteorological spring recorded mean temperatures within the UK's top ten warmest on record. 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. The fact that nine of the ten warmest springs in England have occurred since 2007 illustrates this ongoing shift in the UK's climate.'
Earlier in spring, March was the joint tenth warmest and April the seventh warmest for the UK as a whole. However, overall UK rainfall figures showed spring precipitation 14% below average, with a north-south divide: southern England received half its normal rainfall, while northern areas had 90% of average levels. Some eastern and southeastern counties, including Suffolk, Kent, and Essex, experienced only a third of typical rainfall.
Helen Wakeham, Environment Agency Director of Water and Chair of the National Drought Group, warned: 'No parts of England are currently in drought, but the risk increases the longer it remains hot and dry.' Soil moisture remained low in many fields, and last week's heatwave increased stress on crops, with visible leaf rolling in wheat crops. Scotland was the only UK nation to finish spring wetter than average.
Despite this year's high temperatures in England and Wales, spring 2025 had more hours of sunshine and the warmest temperatures for the UK as a whole. England enjoyed 229 hours of sunshine this spring, double the 115-hour average since the 1980s.
Showers replaced the searing heat today as cooler and fresher air moved in. Met Office chief forecaster Chris Bulmer said: 'We're now starting to see this spell of very hot weather break down.' Open-water swimming during the hot weather led to at least 15 deaths around the country, including a 15-year-old girl who died in hospital on Saturday after getting into difficulties while swimming at Formby beach on Merseyside on Bank Holiday Monday. Hot weather also affected drinking water supplies for 15,500 people in Kent, in areas including Coxheath, Loose, Headcorn, Ulcombe, Benenden, and Kemsing.
Further heavy showers and thunder are expected tomorrow across the south and east, with gusty winds followed by dry and sunny weather moving in from the west. Temperatures are set to reach a maximum of 21°C (70°F) in the south but just 16°C (59°F) in Cumbria. More showers and longer spells of rain are forecast for the rest of the week, but with some sunnier spells in between.
