Sky News launches online UK weather records tool
Sky News has launched an online tool that lets people explore local UK weather records, after a summer of record heat and unusually wet weather in north-west Scotland.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
A new online weather records tool has been launched, giving people a way to see how conditions in their own area compare with the past. The tool, called Weather record, was produced by a data and forensics team and brings together data going back to when records began. It lets users explore today's weather where they are, what it was in the past, and how it is changing as the climate warms.
The launch follows a summer of extremes across the UK. In much of the country, the season brought months of successive heatwaves, weeks without rain and hosepipe bans. Heathrow recorded 30 days of temperatures at or above 30C, breaking a 30-year record. More than 4,000 daily temperature records were broken across the UK so far in 2026, more than in any previous year.
The national picture was not uniform. North West Scotland saw a very different summer. Key findings include:
- Loch Luskarnock experienced more daily records for cold than for heat, despite the record-smashing heat almost everywhere else.
- Only 43 records where the daily maximum temperature was the lowest on record for that particular day were set across the UK this year, including at Inverberthy in the Highlands and Altmerhinch in Northern Ireland.
- Altby and two nearby places in North West Scotland had their second wettest summer on record. Altby recorded 76% more rain than usual.
- More than a third of Scotland was wetter than normal this year.
The divide can be explained by atmospheric pressure. The high pressure that caused Europe's summer heatwave extended over much of England and Wales and eastern Scotland. North West Scotland was largely spared. This is known as a blocking high, or heat dome. It stops low pressure systems, clouds and rain from moving over most of the UK, forcing unsettled weather into areas outside it.
These patterns are steered by high-altitude air currents such as the jet stream, which are influenced by sea temperatures. There are hints of a link to a warming planet. The analysis suggested there is evidence the UK may see more blocking in future and that the jet stream is likely to shift. That could mean slightly drier summers in the UK, particularly in the south. For Scotland, the trend is for much wetter winters. Scotland's rain in winter and autumn has become much wetter over the last century, a direct consequence of the warming planet, and the overall trend towards wetter winters applies to the rest of the UK as well.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| Sky News launched an online weather records tool named Weather record, developed by its data and forensics team. | |
| Sky News reported that over 4,000 daily temperature records were broken across the UK in 2026, more than in any previous year. | |
| The Weather record tool allows users to explore current local weather, historical weather, and climate change trends. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky News treated the launch as a flagship segment in its morning programme, pairing promotion of the new tool with an explainer from its science and technology editor. The coverage focused on personalising the data for viewers, contrasting record heat across much of the UK with cold and wet records in north-west Scotland, and linking the pattern to a blocking high and possible climate change effects. Its tone was explanatory and promotional, and it did not include reaction from other outlets or independent critics.
- “Now Sky News is launching an exciting new weather feature today”
- “All the findings I've looked at here Are from our new online tool Weather record produced by our data and forensics team”
- “Scotland's rain in the winter and the autumn Has got a lot wetter over the last century And that's a direct consequence of our warming planet”
Broadcast Timeline
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