UK climate report flags 2025 as hottest year on record

The annual State of the UK Climate report has confirmed 2025 was the hottest year in records stretching back to 1884, with the four most recent years all ranking in the top five. Scientists warn further records are likely to fall soon as extreme weather events — heatwaves, wildfires, flooding — increasingly become the baseline rather than the exception. The findings land as seven Britons are confirmed dead in Spanish wildfires and the UK endures an ongoing heatwave with temperatures holding above 30°C.