Met Office warns of ‘increased heatwave risk’ this summer after record-breaking May

The Met Office has warned this summer could be a scorcher as it released its three-month outlook.

Monday marked the first day of meteorological summer following a week-long heatwave that began over the late May bank holiday.

Temperature records were shattered as the UK experienced the warmest May night on record.

May 25 was the hottest May day on record as temperatures soared to 34.8°C at Kew Gardens in southwest London.

The weather has since cooled down after some rainfall, but new warnings from the Met Office suggest we could experience even hotter weather over the coming months.

What has the Met Office predicted for the summer?

In its three-month outlook published on June 1, the Met Office said the chance of a hot summer is ‘higher than normal’ and warned of an increased risk of heatwaves and ‘heat-related impacts’.

For June, the forecaster said that the next three months are likely to be twice as hot as the years 1991-2020 used as its reference period.

Citing global warming and El Niño, a natural weather phenomenon that can push up temperatures, as the main drivers of the warmer summer weather, the Met Office said: ‘An increased chance of hot conditions implies a greater-than-normal chance of heatwaves.’

June weather forecast: Are we getting sunshine or rain?

The Met Office’s outlook also mentions that there will be higher chances of a wet season but stresses that ‘near average rainfall remains the most likely outcome’.

For the upcoming weekend, rain is expected to move north-eastwards across the UK on Saturday.

This will lead to some sunshine later in the weekend, although further showers and longer spells of rain have also been predicted.

More rain is predicted for the next two weeks, with the northwest experiencing the wettest conditions.

Weather conditions will be drier in the second half of June with temperatures ‘above normal,’ but heavy showers and thunderstorms are predicted for the south where it may ‘become hot’.