The UK logged its hottest day of the year on Wednesday as temperatures reached 38.1C at Kew Gardens in London, surpassing the previous 38C peak recorded in Norfolk in June. The reading made Thursday the fifth warmest day ever recorded in Britain, as the country endured a record 38 consecutive days above 30C.
The heatwave has deepened a crisis already straining infrastructure across Europe. Nearly three-quarters of England and all of Wales are now in drought, while Germany estimated more than 12,500 heat-related deaths this summer. In Romania, a nuclear reactor was shut down due to low Danube cooling water, and Hungary placed rocks in the river to raise levels near the Paks plant.
Wildfires have burned more area in Spain than at any comparable point on record, with England and Wales matching all of 2025's blazes with 1,017 fires so far. Amber heat warnings remain in force across much of England through Friday.