U.K. records hottest day of 2026 as western Europe heats up again

The U.K. recorded its hottest day of the year Thursday during an excessively dry stretch that saw multiple fires break out as an intense stretch of hot weather continued to grip Europe.

The Met Office said the temperature of 38.1 degrees Celsius (100.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in west London was a tenth of a degree higher than the previous record set June 28. It remained below the U.K.’s August record of 38.5 C (101.3 F), set in 2003.

Britain, like France , is experiencing its fifth heat wave of the year, with the first recorded in May. The latest extreme heat means 2026 has now had a record four days with temperatures of 36 C (96.8 F) or higher. It also has matched 2022 with two days reaching 38 C.

Temperatures in France, meanwhile, have gone even higher, approaching 41 C (106 F) in several areas, from Aquitaine in the southwest to the Rhone River valley in the east, according to the national weather service.

At least two new grass fires broke out in different areas of the West Midlands in central England, officials said. Multiple homes were burning in Stourbridge next to a golf course, Sky News helicopter footage showed.

The most intense heat is forecast to move eastward away from Britain and France on Friday and then recede over the weekend.

This summer has shown that both Britain and France are ill-equipped to deal with these levels of heat. Air conditioning is a rarity outside of shops and offices, for example.

In Britain, nurses have collapsed from heat exhaustion while working in hospitals, many housed in aging buildings that lack adequate cooling, the Royal College of Nursing said Thursday.

“When nursing staff are collapsing, feeling dizzy, sick or even being admitted to the very hospitals they work in because their workplaces cannot handle the heat, it shows just how badly they are being failed,” said Nicola Ranger, the college’s chief executive and general secretary.

Like many parts of Europe, Britain and France are facing widespread drought conditions that have shriveled crops and drained rivers, heaping pressure on water resources for households, agriculture and the environment, and forcing governments and water users to seek both short- and long-term measures to mitigate the effects of human-caused climate change.

Britain’s Southern Water, which oversees supplies in the south of England, has applied for a rare drought order which would ban businesses from nonessential water use, including cleaning cars and filling nondomestic swimming pools, saying an “exceptional” lack of rain is threatening supplies. Environment Secretary Angela Eagle will decide on the application, which would be the first such ban since May 2006.

With temperatures soaring, many people headed to beaches and outdoor pools or found other ways to cool off. In Bordeaux in southwestern France, children and adults sought relief in the city’s iconic “water mirror.” Some frolicked in fountains, splashed their faces and filled up water bottles.