Summer 2026 matches 1976 for days above 30C as UK swelters in third heatwave

The UK has had as many 30C days in 2026 as in the infamous year of 1976, as the country experiences its third heatwave of the summer, the Met Office said.Temperatures on Monday peaked at 30.1C in Hurn in Dorset, making it the ninth day in a row when 30C has been exceeded somewhere in the country.June’s heatwave saw temperatures peak above 30C seven days in a row.There have now been 24 days in 2026 – consecutive and non-consecutive – when 30C has been exceeded somewhere in the UK: seven in May, eight in June and nine in July.That equals the number of 30C-plus days in 1976, which lingers in the UK’s memory for its heatwave and drought conditions that forced people to use standpipes in the street, hit crops and parched landscapes.With a month-and-a-half of the summer still to come, 2026 has s