WHY 2018 IS EXCEPTIONAL

WITH temperatures set to reach 37C (98.6F) today and no significant rain for the past two months, parts of Britain were being compared to Saudi Arabia and the Gobi Desert.

But figures from the Met Office suggest this summer’s heatwave is more likely to be an anomaly than what we should expect in years to come.

Apart from the odd few weeks, summers over the past decade have generally been dull, wet and cool affairs.

This year, the amount of sunshine enjoyed so far since the start of June is already higher than that experienced in the whole of summer 2012.

According to Met Office records, the driest June to August period since records began was in 1995. The sunniest was 1976, with 668.7 hours.

Yesterday, MPs were accused of being ‘alarmist’ after the environmental audit committee warned that, by 2050, up to 7,000 people will die from the heat every year unless action is taken to tackle soaring temperatures.