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England and Wales recorded their driest July on record this year, the UK’s national weather agency has announced, citing provisional figures.
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The Met Office described July as an “exceptional month” for the UK’s weather books, with provisional statistics showing records were challenged or broken for temperature, sunshine, and rainfall.
According to the agency, England saw 6.5mm of rainfall over the month of July, 10% of its usual average for the month and less than half of the previous record of 13.4mm, which was set in 1911.
Southern England also experienced its “driest month ever recorded” in July, the Met Office added, noting that records dated back to 1836.
In Wales, 9.3mm of rainfall was recorded in July, around 9% of the normal average and again less than half of the previous record of 22.6mm – also set in 1911.
Dr. Amy Doherty, a science manager at the Met Office, called July a “truly remarkable month in the UK’s climate record.”
“The combination of record-breaking dryness, exceptional warmth and unprecedented sunshine has delivered one of the most notable summer months in our historical records,” she said.
Europe’s scorching summer
Much of Europe has sweltered under high temperatures this summer, with brutal heatwaves wreaking havoc across the continent – which has been battling devastating wildfires and severe droughts.
Emergency services and hospitals have been pushed to their limits amid repeated surges in callouts linked to the hot weather, and many countries have reported increases in heat-related deaths. In July, the UK Health Security Agency said there were estimated to have been around 2,877 heat-associated deaths in England during two hot spells in May and June.
Soaring temperatures are now also adding to concerns of an energy crisis in central Europe, where the Danube River has dropped to record-low levels.
In Hungary, a fresh heatwave almost forced the shutdown of the nation’s only nuclear power plant for the first time in 44 years, although Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced on Monday that it was still in operation for the time being.