Heatwave: 2018 was the joint hottest summer for UK

England’s average temperatures narrowly beat those seen in 1976, they added.

The heatwave saw soaring temperatures across much of the UK throughout June and July.

Dry, sweltering conditions for weeks on end gave way to a more average August, said the Met Office.

To the nearest 0.1C, all four years – 2018 as well as 1976, 2003 and 2006 – had an average temperature of 15.8C (60.4F).

That is 1.5C above the long-term average, the Met Office said. The margins between the years are so small it’s impossible to separate them, they added.

In England, the mean temperature was 17.2C (63F). The 1976 record had been 17C.

No records were set for other parts of the UK – although it was close in Wales, with an average of 16C, just 0.1C under the current record set in 1995.

The hottest day of 2018 so far was Thursday, 26 July, when temperatures reached 35.3C in Faversham, Kent.

But it still did not top the UK’s highest-ever recorded temperature of 38.5C (101F), also in Faversham, in August 2003.