Summer solstice gets record-breaking Stonehenge crowd ahead of yellow thunderstorm warning – live updates

Matt Taylor
BBC Weather

There are several different reasons that have come together to cause this current hot spell, not just the obvious answer that “it’s summer”.

Initially we saw an area of high pressure build across the UK. With clear and sunny skies overhead, this helped to warm the ground and air over the UK a bit more with each passing day.

The prolonged dry weather we have experienced recently is another part of the equation.

The ground is still very dry at the moment. A dry ground heats up much quicker than a damp one, as the Sun’s energy isn’t being used to evaporate water, and that dry ground then gives the air temperature an extra boost.

Then over the last few days, as the area of high pressure has drifted east, developing southerly winds have added extra heat (and humidity) from western Europe into the mix, too.

And of course there is the issue of climate change. Whilst summer heatwaves aren’t unusual, climate scientists have told us that global temperature rises are making such heatwaves more common, longer-lasting and more extreme when they occur.