Highest June minimum temperature record broken in Cardiff as ‘savage’ heatwave continues

A sweltering night in Cardiff has broken another new UK heat record as brutally hot conditions continue across England and Wales. Temperatures only fell to 23.5C overnight in the Welsh capital, the Met Office said, making it the highest minimum temperature ever recorded in June. The UK’s high temperature record for June is also likely to be broken on Thursday, just a day after the previous record. The heatwave, supercharged by the climate crisis, drove the temperature to 36.1C at Gosport in Hampshire on Wednesday, beating the previous record of 35.6C set in Southampton in 1976. Heatwaves are now more severe and more likely because of the carbon pollution from burning fossil fuels, with scientists estimating the current extreme temperatures across Europe are between 2C and 4C higher as a result. Many thousands of people are likely to have died prematurely in the heat, but the statistical analysis required to determine the number takes time to complete. The UK Health Security Agency found that more than 10,000 people died in Britain owing to summer heatwaves between 2020 and 2024. The UKHSA has extended its red heat-health alert by 24 hours to 11pm on Friday. It is only the second red alert ever issued by the agency. The Met Office also extended its red alert for south-east England until 9pm on Friday. Rising global heat is now killing one person a minute around the world, health experts said in October. A man tries to shade himself in central London. …