Summer 2026 was another record breaking one. Records were broken in June and August and the summer was the hottest ever on record smashing the previous record recorded in 1995 and 2025 by a margin of 0.7C. At one time it was one of the driest summers on record until the last few days of August which took care of that. Sheffield dodged the worst of the heat though mostly just being a few miles too far north so could have been much hotter. It also dodged the majority of storms otherwise August would have been even wetter.
June came in with temperatures well above average making a new record and smashing the previous one of 17.2C by 0.5C coming in at 17.7C. Considering the first half the month was fairly average and temperatures only passed 20C three times by mid month the fact that it was the warmest on record shows how hot the 2nd half was. The 2nd half of the month saw the 1st heatwave of the summer lasting from 21st to the 27th.
Looking at the first half of the month this was the coolest with some rather cool days on the 9th and the 10th when 15.6C and 15.8C were recorded. The first half of the month saw night time temperatures being in single figures five times with coolest being the 11th with 8C being the low. The previous nights also worthy of a mention as they fell to 8.1C and 8.2C respectively. The last single digit night time low was on the 15th also hitting 8.1C. The 2nd half of the month warmed up slowly with very pleasant summer weather from the from the 16th to the 18th when temperatures were in the low twenties. The 19th hit 25.5C just above the heatwave category but the 20th was below 25C so the heatwave counter was reset. Sheffield didn't have to wait long though as the heat wave started on the 22nd accelerating rapidly with 30C being breach on the 23rd when 32.3C was reached. The 24th hit 33.1C then a new record was set on the 26th when 33.7C was reached. Four consecutive days above 30 degrees. The 27th was much cooler at 28.3C and the heatwave ended on the 28th when a return to pleasant summer temperatures materialised. The 2nd half of the month average an amazing 21.0C degrees while the first half was just 14.3C. Certainly a month of two halves. June also saw the warmest and coldest nights of the summer with the 8C on the 11th and the 20.5C on the 24th. Quite a large difference.
The month of June saw below average rainfall and again a month of two halves. The first half saw 32.8mm which was about average for the month however the 2nd half saw just 10.4mm of rainfall. The highest rainfall was on the 11th when 7.9mm fell and the next highest was the first with 6mm. Neither massive totals. The 2nd half saw a run of eight days with out any measurable rainfall.
The month was fairly breezy with 35mph being reached on the 3rd, 33mph on the 12th and 31mph on the 13th. 30mph was reached again on the 28th.
The month featured a rare thundery shower on the 31st 26th. If this hadn't occurred the temperatures would have been likely higher than the 33.7C as the suns energy had dry the soil out more.
July 2026 was the 2nd warmest month on record and the driest on record. The night time minimum was a new record at 14.3C 0.4C higher than previous record set in 1983, 2006 and 2021. The day time high was the 2nd warmest on record while the hottest day in July was the 4th hottest July day on record. Rainfall wise it was the joint 3rd driest on record for any calendar month behind April 1957 with 1.8mm and September 1959 which had only 1.0mm. How long will the new record last.
Although July kicked off with a normal warm spell for July temperatures suddenly rose by 6 degrees on the 8th when 30.7C was the high. This was followed by 33.1C as we headed off towards July 2022 style weather. The 10th was the hottest day with 34.2C this being the fourth hottest day on record. Thankfully temperatures fell back on the 11th but the heatwave continued until the 17th. A total of 9 days. The highest night time temperature was on the 10th as well when 18.2C was the low. Luckily the nights weren't too warm unlike July 2022 coupled with a nighttime breeze meant sleeping was possible. Temperatures continued in the low to mid twenties but it became hot again on the 28th but this only lasted two days therefore not another heatwave. The month finished with perfect summer weather with temperatures in the in low twenties. The only cool day an average 19.6C on the 2nd was the high and the only cool night was on the 20th when 9.9C was the low. North sea cloud prevented prevented higher temperatures being recorded from the 11th to the 18th. If the cloud hadn't occurred we'd be looking at the hottest month on record.
July saw one heatwave from the 8th until the 12th after then after we didn't beat the temperature of 26C on three consecutive days.
July was the driest on record with only 2.3mm being recorded. There was no measurable rain after the 1st which saw a huge 1.4mm fall until the 25th when another huge 0.9mm fell. After that there was a run off 23 days without any measurable rain. This matching 23 days in July 2018. The dry running Four days with trace condition one of which were due to north sea cloud and another to unforecast showers on the 4th. More drizzle showers on the 26th and 27th brought no measurable rain and just another trace condition. In total there were 29 days without any measurable rainfall. Rainfall overall was mostly a dash in the recording column.
July had a windy start when 40 mph was reached on the 1st followed 33mph the next day. Winds hit 30mph again on the 25th a d 26th. On most days there was a breeze which was nice when the temperatures hit the hot category.
The month didn't feature any thundery weather which is norm these days as storms continue to decline.
August 2026 saw temperatures smash the previous monthly record and smash the previous daily record with cloud preventing a even higher daily record. Rainfall again was mostly in the 1st half of the month once'
The month started well above average but cooler weather on the 5th and 5th brought the average down. However a heatwave arriving on the 11th through to the 14th brought in some record breaking temperatures. The 12th saw the record matched when 32.6C was reached then smashed the day after when 35.9C was the peak. Cloud built up preventing any further rises otherwise 36C to 37C would have been the likely high. Temperatures dropped out of the heatwave by the 15th but still stayed on the warm side.
August 2026 was the 5th warmest on record and looked to be one of the the driest on record. It obliterated the warmest August day record on the 13th and also featured the 2nd hottest day on record. Amazingly it also dipped below the 1961 - 1990 average briefly. Rainfall wise it was the 8th wettest on record.
August began on a warm note but turned very warm to hot by the 3rd but since it cooled down again by 5th this prevented a heatwave from being recorded. Temperatures were in the low twenties until the 8th when temperatures rose to 27.6C and 26.6C the next day but again temperatures fell back below heatwave levels on the 10th. However August wasn't going to be denied a heatwave when temperatures rose again on the 11th hitting 32.6C on the 12th and the 2nd warmest day ever on the 13th when 35.9C was reached. The heatwave ended quietly on the 15th when temperatures went back to the low twenties even dropping below on the 18th when the joint 3rd coolest day was recorded with 19.6C. This was matched on the 20th and just beaten on the 21st when 19.5C was the high. Temperatures recovered again peaking at 25.6C on the 26th. Temperatures stayed around 20C until the end of the month. The month features some notable cool nights even more so considering it was one of the warmest months on record. The overnight lows of 8.9C followed by the joint lowest 7.4C on the 22nd and 23rd then a 7.9C on the 24th. The period of from the 21st to the 24th was actually below the 1961 - 1990 average. This demonstrated that the 1961 - 1990 still has some relevance today despite the warmer climate. The month just missed out on tropical nights when the warmest nights fell to 19.8C and 19.6C on the 13th and 14th.
August until the 27th was pushing to be one of the driest on record. Indeed the first 15 days only saw rain on two days bringing a total on 1mm to the board. A run of 11 days saw no measurable rain and was totally dry on 10 of them. A wet spell from the 16th to the 21st brought 14.8mm then five more days without any measurable rainfall followed. Models were constantly predicting rainfall that never materialised the 26th being one in the case where forecast storms failed to appear. So understandably sceptical that rain forecast for the 27th would delivery much. ECMWF predicted around 25mm and normally over does the rain. However in this case it under did by a huge margin when the sixth wettest day since 1989 arrived. 70.2mm fell mostly between 10am and 15pm and again from 23:00hr to 02:00am. Roughly seven hours. One wonders red alert should have been issued considering the run off from dry ground and this was just over a months total rainfall. The month ended showery with some further notable rainfall.
August was a quiet month without any windy weather.
The month featured a thundery shower on the 18th and a weak Thunderstorm overnight 27th into the early hours of the 28th. Very rare these days to have two days of Thunder.
| This Summer's Averages Including the Highs and Lows | ||
|---|---|---|
| Average Temp 16.0C | This Summer's Average 18.6C | Difference from average 2.6C |
| Average Max Temp 20.6C | This Summer's Max Average 23.7C | Difference from average 3.1C |
| Average Min Temp 11.4C | This Summer's Min Average 13.5C | Difference From Average 2.1C |
| High Max 35.9C on the 13th of Sep | Low Max 15.6C on the 9th of Jun | Highest Daily Range 19.3C on the 12th of Aug |
| High Min 20.5C on the 24th of Jun | Low Min 8.0C on the 11th of Jun | Lowest Daily Range 3.8C on the 26th of Aug |
| Number of Air Frosts 0 | Days of Thunder 3 | Days of Snow 0 |
| Days of Rain > 0 30 Days | Days of Rain with Trace 17 Days | Days with Gusts ≥ 50 mph 0 days |
| Average Rainfall 209.6mm | This Summer's Average 151.3mm | Percentage of Average Rainfall 72.2% |