Hottest June on record killed 'unprecedented' numbers of fish in rivers

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The hottest June on record killed “unprecedented” numbers of fish in rivers, eco groups have warned.The Met Office confirmed last month was the warmest June since records began in 1884 - and said the heatwave had been made at least twice as likely due to man-made climate change.Scotland and the UK sweltered in record temperatures with scientists noting the heat was unusually long-lasting.The North Atlantic Ocean, including waters around the British isles, also smashed its own heat records with a “severe marine heatwave” declared in seas around the UK in mid-June.Experts say the hot weather killed thousands of fish across the country amid rising water scarcity.The Wildlife Trusts warned nature was being "pounded by extreme weather without a chance to recover”.And Mark Owen, from the Angling Trust, said: "The reports of the number of fish death incidents in rivers for this time of year has been unprecedented.“I would normally expect rivers to be affected later in the summer when it's hotter and drier.”The Met Office said the average temperature for June in the UK hit 15.8C - nearly a full degree hotter than the joint previous record of 14.9C in 1940 and 1976.In Scotland, the daily mean temperature was 14.3C - the country’s hottest ever June and 2.7C higher than average.Parts of the Scottish Highlands were 3.5C above average, while Orkney was among the UK counties to experience its hottest ever June.The Met Office’s provisional figures also suggest Scotland had its third sunniest June on record with 231.4 hours of sunshine.Paul Davies, Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “We found that the chance of observing a June beating the previous joint 1940/1976 record of 14.9C has at least doubled since the 1940s.“Alongside