A report published Aug. 8 on the website Watts Up With That said a claim attributed to Britain's Met Office linking recent heatwave deaths to climate change was false. The report, titled "Met Office Heatwave Death Claim Was Fake News," said the disputed figure had been previously cited by news outlets and social media users. [1]
According to the report, the Met Office did not directly respond to requests for comment. The figure in question, an estimate of more than 2,700 heat-related deaths in England and Wales, circulated during a summer in which record temperatures were reported across the UK and Europe. [2]
Separate official data recorded more than 10,000 excess deaths across Europe during the June heatwave, with more than 9,000 of those aged 65 and above, according to the European Monitoring of Excess Mortality for Public Health Action, as reported by The Epoch Times. [3]
Origin of the Disputed Figure
The estimate was published July 12 by the BBC, which said more than 2,700 people may have died from heat-related causes during the UK's exceptionally hot weather in May and June. The figure came from a team at Imperial College London, the Met Office and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and was based on what is known about the dangers of extreme heat, the BBC said. Most deaths likely occurred in the June heatwave, the warmest June on record in England, according to the report. [2]
The figure was repeated by additional media organizations and public officials before being questioned, according to the Watts Up With That report. An analysis published July 15 on the Climate Depot website challenged the claim, with its headline stating there were no "2,700 heatwave deaths due to climate change" in the UK and that "the deaths were made up." [4]
Statisticians quoted in the report said the methodology behind the estimate had not been published, according to the report. Author Gaia Vince, in "Nomad Century," cited a 2021 UK Met Office analysis projecting that EU member states alone would experience 30,000 heat-related deaths annually at 1.5 C of warming. [5]
Report Alleges Retraction Without Public Notice
The Watts Up With That report said the Met Office later removed or corrected the claim without a public announcement. The report described the original claim as fake news and cited other examples of what it called questionable climate-related statements from the agency. [1]
Those examples include earlier disputes over temperature records. A July 1 post on Watts Up With That titled "Met Office Record Temperature Claims Are Fraudulent" challenged a record June temperature reading at a station the post described as a "junk Class 5 site." A separate July 25 post said the Met Office remained silent about its own research indicating European summer warming in recent decades was driven by reduced aerosol emissions. [6][7] A May 9 post titled "Ding Dong, RCP8.5 Is Dead!" said official bodies, including the Met Office, had promoted climate scare stories based on outdated emissions scenarios. [8]
A Met Office spokesperson said the agency stood by its overall heat-health messaging but did not confirm the specific figure, according to the report.
Officials Respond to Criticism
Climate policy critics quoted in the report said the incident could reduce public trust in official heatwave warnings. Prior reporting has raised concerns about the Met Office's data practices. NaturalNews reported in May 2025 that the agency could not identify the sources of temperature data for 103 non-existent or defunct weather stations, a finding the article said undermined the reliability of its climate records. [9]
In August 2025, NaturalNews reported that the Met Office faced scrutiny after evidence emerged suggesting it was producing temperature data from more than 100 non-existent weather stations. [10] Met Office representatives did not characterize the claim as fake news, the report stated.
The report also included a quote from a statistician who questioned the reliability of unverified mortality data. The Journal of Environmental Statistics article "Building trust in climate science: data products for the 21st century" said climate science "has a key role to play in informing strategies for adapting to and mitigating the effects of climate change." [11]
Disputed Figure Remains Unverified
The disputed death total remains unverified, and the Met Office has not released a public correction, according to the report. [1] The episode shows the role of independent websites in checking institutional statements, the report said.
Christopher Booker, in "The Real Global Warming Disaster," wrote that critics of the climate consensus tended to be more restrained and courteous than many of its supporters, who frequently posted "bilious and abusive responses." [12] Officials said further updates from the Met Office could clarify the record.
References
- Watts Up With That. "Met Office Heatwave Death Claim Was Fake News". August 8, 2026.
- BBC News. "Thousands may have died in UK's exceptional May and June heatwaves". July 12, 2026.
- The Epoch Times. "10,000 Excess Deaths During June European Heatwave, Official Data Show". July 13, 2026.
- Climate Depot. "Analysis: No, There Weren't '2,700 Heatwave Deaths Due to Climate Change' in UK – 'The deaths were made up'". July 15, 2026.
- Gaia Vince. "Nomad Century".
- Watts Up With That. "Met Office Record Temperature Claims Are Fraudulent". July 1, 2026.
- Watts Up With That. "Met Office Remain Silent About Their Own Research That Undermines Their Agenda". July 25, 2026.
- Watts Up With That. "Ding Dong, RCP8.5 Is Dead!". May 9, 2026.
- Willow Tohi. "Faked Data? Met Office's Data Gaps Raise Questions Over Climate Crisis Claims". NaturalNews.com. May 19, 2025.
- Willow Tohi. "U.K. Met Office Under Fire for Fabricating Temperature Data from Non-Existent Stations". NaturalNews.com. August 31, 2025.
- Richard E. Chandler, Peter Thorne, Jay Lawrimore, Kate Willett. "Building trust in climate science: data products for the 21st century". Journal of Environmental Statistics.
- Christopher Booker. "The Real Global Warming Disaster".
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