UK Hits 38.1C, Its Hottest Day of 2026, as Wildfires Force Evacuations in Stourbridge and Stratford-upon-Avon

Since Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham's emergency meeting on wildfires this week, the weather has only gotten worse. Thursday brought the hottest day of 2026 to the UK, with the Met Office confirming 38.1C at Kew Gardens in west London, provisionally beating the previous 2026 high of 38C set at Lingwood, Norfolk, on June 26.

It's the UK's fifth heatwave of the year and, per BBC, only the fourth time since records began that a British day has come in hotter. The only year a temperature this extreme showed up twice was 2022, the year the UK hit its all-time record of 40.3C at Coningsby, Lincolnshire.

The West Midlands took the worst of it. West Midlands Fire Service said more than 100 firefighters battled major blazes in Stourbridge and Stratford-upon-Avon, according to The Independent. A child and three firefighters were taken to hospital. Multiple homes caught fire and residents were evacuated.

Councillor Andrew Tromans, who represents Wollaston and Stourbridge Town on Dudley Borough Council, called the scene "apocalyptic." Chief fire officer Simon Tuhill told a Thursday evening press conference it was "one of the most significant incidents that West Midlands Fire Service has ever attended," adding that emergency crews would likely need two more days on site, meaning displaced residents can't go home yet. A joint investigation with police into the cause is now underway, Tuhill said.

In Warwickshire, a major incident was declared after fire crews were called at 2:30pm to a large smoke plume near Salford Priors. The Met Office's amber "extreme heat" warning, covering London, the South East, the East and West Midlands, and South Yorkshire, stayed in force until midnight Thursday, with a broader amber heat health alert running through 9pm Friday.

Water problems compound the heat

More than 27 million people in England are under water use restrictions, including hosepipe bans, BBC reported. Thousands of homes in east London and Essex are still without water or dealing with low pressure, nearly a week after pipes burst in South Woodford. Thames Water has apologized repeatedly but hasn't given a full restoration timeline.

Wales has declared a drought across the entire country, with temperatures there forecast to hit 35C.

Not just Britain

France Meteo recorded 38C in Paris, and the country's heatwave has now run 17 straight days, its third-longest stretch of extreme heat on record, according to The Guardian. Al Jazeera reported more than 135 million people across Europe faced temperatures above 35C on Thursday, with Italy (29 million people affected), Spain (25 million), and the Iberian Peninsula all under heat warnings. Spain's Aemet agency logged 37C in the country's center.

In Greece, small boats evacuated more than 250 tourists and locals, some still in swimsuits, from the resort village of Siviri as a wildfire, fanned by gale-force winds, closed in on homes and holiday properties, per The Guardian.

The strain on hospitals

The Royal College of Nursing said nurses have collapsed from heat exhaustion in hospitals lacking adequate cooling, Al Jazeera reported. NHS pharmacist Bailey Williamson told AFP that patients "can't even breathe because of the heat problem." Hospitals have seen a rise in heatstroke cases.

How 2026 compares to 1976

The Daily Mail's data comparison with the infamous summer of 1976 is worth taking seriously. The 1976 heatwave's peak temperature, 35.9C at Cheltenham, was lower than 2026's current high of 38.1C. But 1976's heatwave spells ran longer in some stretches, and the outright longest UK heatwave on record remains 1996's 39-day run. 2026's longest continuous stretch, 37 days between June 30 and July 27, falls just short of that mark but beats 1976's 23-day span.

Former UK government chief scientific adviser Sir David King told The Guardian this summer's heat was "shattering" and only a preview of what's coming. That's a forecast, not a measured fact.

What's unresolved

The cause of the Stourbridge fire hasn't been determined; investigators say it's too early to say. Temperatures are forecast to ease to 30-34C Friday and 26C by Sunday in England, but the Met Office has been clear the underlying drought and water restrictions won't resolve as quickly as the heat does. Thames Water still hasn't said when the South Woodford outage will be fully fixed for the Essex and east London households still without reliable water nearly a week on.