Britain and France swelter under record-breaking May heatwave

A spring heat wave that arrived before summer had properly begun pushed Britain and France into record territory, a timing anomaly that underscored how climate change is reshaping not just the strength of extreme heat but the season it arrives in. In western Europe, forecasters said the spike was driven by a heat dome of warm air from northern Africa trapped beneath high pressure over the region, forcing temperatures well above normal for May.

In the United Kingdom, the Met Office said 34.8C was reached at Kew Gardens in southwest London, provisionally the hottest May day on record and two degrees above the previous benchmark of 32.8C, set in 1922 and matched in 1944. The agency said the reading was also the highest daily maximum temperature recorded in meteorological spring, covering March, April and May. Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst called the rise “a good indication of climate change in action.”

France faced a similar break with seasonal expectations. Météo-France said a yellow heatwave alert issued on Sunday was the first ever to be issued in May since the system was created in 2004, and the weather service said Monday was the hottest day on record for the month of May since measurements began. French authorities reported at least seven deaths linked to the heatwave, including five drownings as people sought relief in water. In Bergerac, Nantes and Angers, residents were already contending with heat more typical of high summer than late spring.

The practical risks extend well beyond a few scorching days. The UK Climate Change Committee warned days earlier that the country was “built for a climate that no longer exists,” urging adaptation of schools, hospitals and other infrastructure to cope with harsher heat. Its advisers said 92% of homes are likely to overheat by 2050 without action, a warning that sharpened as schools, transit systems and housing stock struggled to adjust to an early-season extreme.

The heat wave was not confined to Britain and France. Spain was expected to peak later in the week, with temperatures forecast to reach 38C in some areas, while parts of Italy imposed restrictions on outdoor work. Across western Europe, the new record-setting heat has become a reminder that the calendar no longer provides the protection it once did, and that public systems built for milder springs are already lagging behind the climate now unfolding.