International News
Summer 2025 Was UK’s Warmest On Record — Weather Agency
Britain sweltered through its hottest summer on record this year, the UK’s meteorological agency announced on Monday, the latest in a string of global temperature records.
“Provisional Met Office statistics show that summer 2025 is officially the warmest on record with a mean temperature of 16.10C, surpassing the previous record of 15.76C set in 2018,” Met Office scientist Emily Carlisle said in a statement.
Scientists have warned persistently that human-driven climate change is resulting in more frequent and intense weather events worldwide.
In Britain, “the persistent warmth this year has been driven by a combination of factors including the domination of high-pressure systems, unusually warm seas around the UK and the dry spring soils,” Carlisle said.
“These conditions have created an environment where heat builds quickly and lingers, with both maximum and minimum temperatures considerably above average.”
The provisional 2025 record means all of Britain’s five warmest summers have taken place in the 21st century.
The Met Office noted “a summer as hot or hotter than 2025 is now 70 times more likely than it would be in a ‘natural’ climate with no human caused greenhouse gas emissions”.
It comes as the UK saw its warmest and sunniest spring in over a century, with England also experiencing the warmest spring on record.
Britain, known for its damp and grey climate, then sweltered through four separate heatwaves during the summer months, posing a host of challenges.
Homes in the UK are designed to keep the heat in during the winter, and are often not equipped to handle prolonged warm periods.
Air conditioners are a rare feature as well, and remain an expensive and largely inaccessible technology.
Researchers at Loughborough University warned that around 20 percent of UK homes are overheating and posing a health risk to inhabitants.
“Oh my God. I think there’s no air conditioner in our dorm. It is sometimes very hot, and especially in public transport,” Ruidi Luan, a 26-year-old student from China, told AFP in London during the latest heatwave in August.
“I think it’s hard to spend a hot day.”
Nearly half the responders to a survey by charity Citizens Advice reported difficulty sleeping during the summer, with 11 percent experiencing their health deteriorating due to overheating homes.
Drought was declared in five out of 14 regions in England, which experienced its driest first six months in half a century this year.
A water shortfall in England was classed as “nationally significant” by the Environment Agency in August, with farmers struggling with stunted harvests.
Reservoir levels across England were below average in August, nearly 50 percent of river flows were below normal, and bans on hosepipe use were enforced in some of the worst-affected regions.
One village which was deliberately flooded in 1939 to create a reservoir for the northwestern hub of Manchester re-emerged in May due to the lack of rain.
AFP
German authorities deported at least 137 Nigerian citizens across five chartered flights between February and June 2026, according to migration monitoring reports.
Data from the DERS Team and Refugees4refugees.org shows the deportations occurred in phases, with 27 Nigerians returned in February, 37 in March through a joint European Union operation, 24 in April, 23 in May, and 26 in June.
The February operation departed from Stuttgart and landed at Lagos Cargo Airport, with Baden-Württemberg listed as a primary participant. The March operation represented the largest single return of Nigerians recorded over three years and was executed in collaboration with Spain, Austria, and Belgium.
The reports indicate a growing reliance on multi-national chartered flights by European states to repatriate undocumented or non-resident individuals to Nigeria.
The United States has condemned the killing of members of the family of Plateau-based cleric, Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo, describing the attack as horrific and urging Nigerian authorities to ensure those responsible are brought to justice.
In a statement shared on X on Thursday, the US Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs expressed condolences to the victims’ families and called for stronger measures to prevent further attacks on vulnerable communities across Nigeria’s Middle Belt.
“The United States strongly condemns the horrific killing of members of Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo’s family in Plateau State, Nigeria. The continued violence targeting Christian communities and other vulnerable populations in Nigeria’s Middle Belt is deeply alarming,” the bureau said
The US said it had already engaged Nigerian officials on the worsening security situation, stressing that urgent action was needed to curb recurring attacks and hold perpetrators accountable.
“As I discussed last week with Nigerian officials, we must do more to prevent violent acts. The perpetrators must be held accountable, and urgent action is needed to strengthen security and protect Christians and other vulnerable communities,” the statement added.
The bureau reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to working with the Nigerian government to combat terrorism and violent extremism, stressing that Christians and other Nigerians should be able to practise their faith without fear of violence.
The statement followed the July 12 attack on Kum community in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, where nine members of Rev. Dachomo’s extended family, including a two-month-old baby, were killed.
According to the cleric, the attackers, believed to be armed Fulani militias, asked for him by name before opening fire on his relatives.
Dachomo, who serves as Regional Chairman of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, said his family had repeatedly been targeted because of his outspoken criticism of the violence in Plateau State.
He recalled that his grandmother and an uncle were also killed in previous attacks, adding that days after burying his relatives, he received a written death threat from the same group, warning that he would be their next target.
Saudi Arabia has updated its tourist eVisa programme for 2026, limiting eligibility in Africa to only three countries as part of its list of 66 nations whose citizens can apply through the Kingdom’s online visa platform.
The move leaves most African countries, including Nigeria, outside the simplified entry scheme.
The electronic visa allows eligible travellers to visit Saudi Arabia for tourism, leisure activities, family visits and Umrah, excluding the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Applications are completed online, eliminating the need for embassy visits and lengthy visa processing.
Saudi authorities said the eVisa forms part of ongoing efforts to expand tourism, attract international visitors and simplify travel procedures through a fully digital application system. The visa is available only to citizens of approved countries and territories listed on the Kingdom’s official tourism portal.
Below is the list of African countries eligible for Saudi Arabia’s eVisa.
1. Mauritius
2. Seychelles
3. South Africa
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