The summer of 2026 has proved the warmest on record on the Isle of Man, despite the highest temperature reaching only 27.6C.

Ronaldsway Met Office has published its summer summary, showing just how dry and consistently warm the season was despite a rather wet June.

While the island did not experience the extreme temperatures seen in some parts of the UK, its mean temperature was 16.4C - the highest since records began.

The Met Office summary says: ‘Summer 2026 was exceptional for the persistence of warmth rather than for extreme temperatures.

‘The mean temperature of 16.4C was 1.6C above the climatological mean and was the warmest summer since records began.

‘It surpassed the previous record of 16C set in 2025, giving the Isle of Man its two warmest summers on record in consecutive years.

‘Both daytime and overnight temperatures contributed to the exceptional warmth. The mean maximum temperature of 19.4C was the second highest on record, while the mean minimum temperature of 13.4C was highest on record.

‘However, the highest temperature reached only 27.6C, illustrating that the summer's exceptional character came from sustained warmth rather than exceptional heat extremes.’

The mean minimum temperature of 13.4C was 1.5C above average and beat the record set in 2025, contributing to the record-breaking summer.

Nights were unusually mild, with the lowest air temperature recorded during the summer standing at 9.5C.

There were 34 days when temperatures reached 20C or higher, the joint second highest number on record.

The summer was also notably dry and sunny overall.

Rainfall totalled 138.1mm, 28% below average, with 35 rain days and 24 wet days.

The summary says: ‘Rainfall was significantly below average during summer 2026, although the monthly distribution was uneven.’

June was actually wetter than average, but conditions changed dramatically in July.

The summary says: ‘The character of the summer changed dramatically in July, when only 2mm of rain was recorded, just 3% of the climatological average of 60.1mm. There were only two rain days and one wet day during the month.

‘August was also drier than average, with 40.3mm compared with 68.2mm, although the number of rain days was close to average.

‘The most notable rainfall statistic was the 24-day longest dry spell from July 1-25, which ranks as the fourth longest summer absolute drought on record.’

Sunshine totalled 664.8 hours, 12% above average, although the exceptionally sunny July was offset by a wetter and duller June.

Summer 2026 was considerably sunnier than 2025, when 582.5 hours were recorded, but remained well below the record summer total of 756.7 hours set in 1995.

The mean wind speed was very close to normal, although there were few strong wind extremes. Thunder occurred on two days, while fog was recorded on 13 days.

The summary concludes: ‘With 2025 and 2026 now occupying the top two positions for summer mean temperature, the most significant finding is the recent concentration of exceptionally warm summers in the Ronaldsway record.

‘Summer 2026 was therefore notable not simply for being hot, but for its role in the persistence and breadth of warmth across the season over the last eight years.’