Summer 2026 was the busiest we’ve ever had at Celsius Hire. We completed more hires than in any summer before… and for weeks on end our yard in Eastleigh was emptying just as quickly as we could restock it. Chillers went out, came back, got serviced and went straight back out again.
This was the hottest UK summer on record, and plenty of sites still haven’t cooled down! So let’s look back on this incredible summer season:
The summer in numbers
The Met Office confirmed on 1 September that summer 2026 was the UK’s hottest since records began in 1884, with an average mean temperature of 16.5°C. That beat last year’s record by 0.4°C. For anyone running cooling plant, the real story was how long the heat lasted.
- 40 days at 30°C or higher, smashing the previous record of 34 set in 1995
- England averaged 18.2°C, 2.5°C above the 1991 to 2020 average
- 38.2°C peak at Hartpury College, Gloucestershire, on 13 August, with 54 weather stations breaking their all-time highs
- Hampshire broke its August temperature record, one of seven southern counties to do so. Our Eastleigh team felt every degree of that while loading lorries.
Sustained heat is harder on cooling systems than a short spike. Most permanent plant is designed around ambient temperatures we beat again and again this summer, and with no cool spell between hot days, buildings and processes never got the chance to recover. That’s when systems trip, or keep running but can’t keep up.
The Met Office now expects a summer like this roughly once every nine years, so this is something to plan for rather than hope to avoid.
Source: Met Office, Summer 2026 provisionally hottest on record for the UK; 30°C day count via Sky News.
What it looked like from our side
The phones started ringing in May and didn’t really stop. The calls fell into a few clear groups:
- Emergency breakdowns. Permanent cooling plant that copes on a 25°C day can struggle at 35°C. We saw a lot of systems trip or fail outright under sustained load, and the customer needed a chiller on site the same day.
- Supplementary cooling. Plenty of systems kept running but couldn’t keep up. A hired chiller tied into the existing setup took the pressure off until temperatures dropped.
- Process cooling. Manufacturing, food and drink and pharmaceutical sites can’t let process temperatures drift. When ambient heat climbs, the margin disappears quickly.
- Data centres and server rooms. IT loads don’t take a day off in a heatwave and the risk of overheating rises with every degree outside.
- Events and temporary structures. Marquees and pop-up venues needed cooling to keep guests and staff comfortable.
None of that happens without the people behind it. Our hire desk, engineers and drivers put in long days through the worst of the heat, often working outside in it. Thank you to every one of them; and to our customers for choosing to rely on us to keep them cool!
Autumn 2026 hasn’t cooled things down
If you were hoping September would bring relief, it didn’t. The Met Office recorded the UK’s joint-fourth warmest September on record, with a mean temperature of 14.6°C, 1.6°C above average. England had its third warmest September.
The south felt it most. Central southern and south-east England averaged 17.1°C, a full 2.4°C above normal. A late-month warm spell pushed temperatures to 28.1°C on 29 September, and overnight lows stayed unusually high, giving buildings little chance to shed heat after dark.
September was also the sixth month in a row to rank in the UK’s top ten warmest for its time of year, a run that started back in April.
A good number of the chillers that went out in June and July are still on site and new enquiries kept coming through September. Some customers who planned a short summer hire have moved onto long-term hire while they sort out permanent fixes to their own plant.
Sources: Met Office, joint-fourth warmest September; Met Office regional breakdown; PA via inkl.
Planning for next summer
Two record summers back to back, and a Met Office forecast that this kind of heat will come round every nine years or so. It’s safe to say 2027 could bring more of the same. A few things we’d suggest now, while it’s quiet:
- Book early. When a heatwave hits, every site wants a chiller at once. Customers who arranged planned or seasonal hire in spring had kit on site before the first hot day.
- Check your plant’s limits. Most permanent systems are designed around temperatures we’re now regularly beating. Find out what ambient temperature your system was designed for, and what happens to capacity above it.
- Get a free site survey. We’ll come out, look at your setup and agree the connection points, power and positioning in advance. On the day, a pre-planned install takes a fraction of the time.
- Have an emergency plan. Know who you’ll call and what size of chiller you need if your cooling fails. Our breakdown and technical support page covers what to expect.
Not sure what size you need? Neil’s guide to chiller hire runs through our range from compact units up to 500kW and above.
Need chiller hire? Let’s talk.
Whether you’re still dealing with this year’s heat or getting ahead of next summer, we’re happy to help. Call us on 0800 702 2161 or request a quote and we’ll find the right chiller for the job.
