FACTCHECK: A guide to manufacturing headlines, by the Times 1) highlight upfront costs of an “eco” home (EV, heat pump, solar) 2) pretend that petrol cars and gas boilers are free (yes really) 3) count upfront “eco” costs twice, for good measure 4) that’s it!

Big risk now for cereal fields. Tinder dry pre-harvest after weeks of dry and hot weather, with another couple of weeks of 30C+ looking likely.

11 out of the 185 days so far in 2026 have had a record Central England Maximum Temperature... Mar (1), Apr (2), May (4), Jun (4).

#Wildfires rage across southern Europe, forcing thousands to flee homes - Tour de France spectator ban as country along with Spain, Portugal and Greece faces ‘powder keg’ after heatwave www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

It's a Bittersweet #Wildflowerhour this evening. As in, Solanum dulcamara for #ClimbingPlants

Jersey Tiger moths are back

Via Wikipedia I just found this second picture of Hector, and FAAAAARK.

280ppm ➡️ 428ppm #USA250

Hotter and hotter and hotter www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The 2026 Tour de France is steeling itself for climate change disruption with recent races blighted by burning heat, such as the Tour de Suisse, where the overall leader suffered heatstroke and had difficulty remembering the race www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/...

Last chance to join the Heal team and work amidst this glorious scenery as maternity cover for our Communications Manager! Applications close this Sunday 5 July at 5pm. Don't miss out - follow the link in our bio to find out more and apply 🔗https://ow.ly/TWuk50Zk00H

Comparing the UK heatwaves of June 1976 and June 2026... Daytime maximum & night minimum temperatures were much hotter in 2026. Details: maxima over 21st-30th June in both years. Uses provisional 2026 HadUK-Grid data from Met Office NCIC. Note the difference scale is larger for night minimums.

RENEWABLES: They're still wildly popular with the British public, not that you'd realise from news coverage * Only 4% are opposed Even for wind/solar farms in your local area, opposition is very low * 74/68% would either be happy to have a local solar/wind farm, or don't care

Couldn't resist growing spuds for the first time in years. Charlotte (left) have done really well, from just 4 tubers in a 1.2m x 0.4m space. Heritage variety Violet Queen not so good but I'm sure the taste will make up for lack of quantity.

🌊 Ocean alert ⏰ The global average sea surface temperature hit a record high for June, of 21C. Meanwhile, parts of UK seas are 5C warmer than average for this time of year. climate.copernicus.eu/copernicus-m...

Well that's a new one. Seems that all the charger cables on the EV charge units at Peterborough services have been chopped off and nicked! Unbelievable. Hefty lumps of copper I suppose.

41.7°C in Germany: third day in a row with a national all-time high temperature.

WORLD RECORD BROKEN IN GERMANY ! The MINIMUM of 29.4C at Kubschütz IS HOTTEST NIGHT EVER RECORDED IN THE WORLD above 50 latitude ! This is getting ridiculous, we are breaking 2 world records a day ...

Until yesterday, nightly temperature in the central Netherlands had never stayed above 19.5°C in the 126-year record. Yesterday: 21.3°C. Today: 21.2°C. Tomorrow: probably even higher.

Big thunderstorm-shaped hole in aircraft movements over northern France

Weather putting on a show in Amsterdam this evening - sound up!

Explosive CB development over the Netherlands this evening - zero to 40,000ft in around 20 minutes. Picture near Rotterdam, taken from news feed.

And we've done it! All time Danish record of 36.4C broken with 37C. Previous June record (from 1947) beaten by a full 1.5C. Also warmest tropical night on record. Previous record was August 1975* *Not a typo for UK readers, 1975 was was warmer than 1976 in Denmark. www.dr.dk/nyheder/vejr...

We are up to 12 UK all-time maximum date records being broken so far this year - 1 in March, 2 in April, 5 in May and 4 in June. The symmetry between the May and June heatwaves is definitely interesting - the date record on Wednesday was broken by a margin of +3.5°C!

Storm clouds over Amsterdam

Two heatwaves. 50 years apart.

Today has been another record breaking day, with a new provisional June temperature record of 37.3°C recorded at Santon Downham this afternoon

I know which way I'm going

'Many capital cities were experiencing not only their hottest recorded three-day period in June but the hottest three-day period at any time of year.' www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The UK provisionally set a new maximum temperature record for June for the second consecutive day, with 36.7°C reached at Merryfield, Somerset. Wales also set a provisional June record, while Northern Ireland matched its previous record Get the details here www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/new...

Round 2

Seems to be a lot of selective memory in UK's right-wing newspapers about schools not closing during the 1976 heatwave. I just checked and, yes, many schools did close early as well as allow parents to "keep their children at home if they wish". This clipping from London Evening News, 29 June 1976

Right now I'm in the epicentre of the heatwave, in southwest France, where the brutality of the heat has ground life to a halt. And I have to keep reminding myself: this is only the beginning.

I went through the summer of 1976. This is worse. Apparently saying that makes me a heatwave hysteric.

BBC News - www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cz... Hottest June day on record as temperatures soar to 36.1C in Hampshire - live updates - BBC News

BBC News - www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cz... Hottest June day on record as temperatures soar to 35.7C in Surrey - live updates - BBC News

Fascinating meteorological analysis

🚨 Five rivers, flowing through Norfolk, Suffolk & Cambs, are at "exceptionally low" levels, reports BBC The findings come as new research from the Tyndall Centre/UEA warns climate change could push UK rivers to dangerous extremes and "hydroclimatic whiplash" ⬇️

Hear, hear

A minimum temperature of 22.3ºC at Brize Norton is a new highest minimum June record for the station by OVER 3ºC and an all-time station record by 1.3ºC (previous was 21.0ºC on 20th July 2016). An incredible margin to break the station records by; records began there in 1968.

Bedroom temperature didn't fall below 27C last night. That's after keeping windows and blinds shut all day before opening in late evening. 1950s house with cavity wall insulation and double glazing. This is the big danger of these heatwaves - inability to recover overnight.

💧💡What is Wet Bulb Temperature? And is it at a critical threshold in the UK and Europe this week. I spoke to BBC radio 4s More or Less Program to explain all. Listen from 9:09 minutes - www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

When reality surpasses fiction! Top: fictional forecast for August 2050, broadcast by French TV in 2014 to warn about the consequences of global warming. Bottom: Real French forecast for yesterday, June 22, 2026.

Hottest day ever recorded in France. 44.3C in Pissos in the southwest. Can add at least a degree per decade to these top figures if we carry on as we are www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c0...

Good tips here on simple ways to provide vital water for wildlife during this extreme heat

"The night from Monday to Tuesday was the hottest ever recorded in France since measurements began in 1947" Prime minister holding a crisis meeting of ministers due to heatwave Garonne River temp reaches 28C, shutting down a nuclear power plant Hospitals: "Some patients can't take it anymore"

I'm reliably informed that 42mm of rain was recorded in the Richmond Park raingauge from this cluster of overnight thunderstorms. There's a lot of available moisture in the current airmass over southern England!

This heatwave is summer of 1976 translated to our current climate

Irony is dead.