August's Record Heat — Why It Matters Here in Betchworth

I recently came across this image that did more to bring home the idea that the Earth is warming than most images I had seen.















This August tied as the hottest month ever measured globally, matching the previous record set in July 2023, according to the EU's Copernicus climate service. Global temperatures for the month sat 1.65°C above pre-industrial levels — over the critical 1.5°C threshold that countries have agreed marks the edge of climate change's worst consequences. One record month doesn't mean that line has been permanently crossed, but it's a clear sign of the direction of travel.

Two forces combined to drive it: the underlying warming from fossil fuel emissions, and a strengthening El Niño — a natural Pacific Ocean pattern that periodically releases huge stores of ocean heat into the atmosphere. Copernicus scientists say El Niño's biggest impact on global temperatures is still to come over the next year, so this run of records may not be over yet.

Closer to home, the same summer made Western Europe's hottest on record, and gave the UK its hottest summer since records began in 1884 — a summer the Met Office calculates was made around 130 times more likely by human-caused climate change. Researchers are also clear that this isn't simply a "new normal" to adapt to and accept; without a shift away from fossil fuels, they expect these records to keep falling, faster than communities can adjust.

It's a national and global story, but it's also our story. Betchworth has just lived through its third exceptionally dry summer in five years — scorched lawns, parched flowerbeds, stressed trees, cracked walls and driveways. The pattern behind those headlines and the pattern behind our own gardens is the same one.

That's exactly why Betchworth Parish Council, Re-Betchworth and the 4Bs Biodiversity Group are bringing the village together on Monday 26th October, 7–9pm at Betchworth Memorial Village Hall, for Our Village, Our Future: Facing Up to Climate Change Together — a video screening and open discussion on what all of this means for us, and what we can actually do about it. Everyone is welcome, and we'd particularly love to hear from residents of every generation.

Source: BBC News, "August joint-hottest month on record as climate change and El Niño drive heat," 10 September 2026.

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