Does an EPC tell me if a home overheats in summer?

No. The A to G rating measures how well a home retains heat and what it costs to run, which makes it a winter measure. The calculation behind it includes an overheating check, but that doesn’t affect the rating you see and isn’t shown to buyers of existing homes. It says nothing about damp or drainage either.

Are recent heatwaves a one-off or a trend?

The Met Office data points to a trend. Summer 2026 was provisionally the UK’s warmest on record, 2025 was its warmest year, and hot days and warm nights have risen sharply over recent decades.

Will this winter be extreme too?

No forecast can say this far out. The Met Office signal for a strong El Niño points to a milder, wetter and windier autumn and early winter for the UK, with colder spells more likely late in the season. UK winters are trending wetter rather than colder, though a mild average still leaves room for a hard cold snap.

Do I need permission to install air conditioning?

Often, yes. An external unit can need planning permission, especially in a conservation area or on a listed building. In a leasehold flat you’ll usually need the freeholder’s written consent, and some leases prohibit outside alterations.

Does my conveyancer check flood risk?

Yes. Flood risk and drainage are covered by the standard searches, and enquiries can cover any history of flooding, damp or insurance claims. Lenders and insurers will take a view on what comes back.

Can a heatwave or drought affect my purchase?

It can. Long dry spells shrink clay soil, the most common cause of subsidence in England and Wales. The environmental search checks ground stability, and enquiries cover any history of cracking or underpinning. Remedial work may be required or the cost to fix may prove a deterrent.

From 38°C to downpours: what weather extremes mean for home buyers

15 Sept 2026 7 minutes read

Market updates

Key takeaways

Home efficiency is being judged on two seasons now: summer comfort as well as winter warmth.

The UK has just had its warmest summer on record, and its winters are getting wetter rather than colder.

An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) mainly estimates how much energy, and therefore money, it should take to heat a home in colder weather.

Air conditioning often needs planning permission or freeholder consent, so it’s a legal question as well as a purchase.

Drought raises subsidence risk and wet winters raise flood and damp risk. Both show up in your conveyancer’s searches.

From unprecedented summer sun to a wet winter ahead

2026 British weather has run from one extreme to the other, and it started wet. Seven named storms crossed the UK by late January. Storms Ingrid and Chandra flooded around 400 homes in England, while Wales saw widespread flooding, with Monmouth and Carmarthenshire among the worst hit. England ended the season with its eighth wettest winter since 1836.

Then came the heat. The Met Office has confirmed summer 2026 as provisionally the UK’s warmest on record, at a mean 16.5°C, 0.4°C above the 2025 record. Temperatures peaked at 38.1°C, and the heat from 30 June to 5 August lasted 37 days.

For years, the energy question from buyers was simple: how warm will this home be in winter, and what will it cost to heat? Recent summers have added a second. How cool will it be in Summer, and can I fit air conditioning? Rightmove research backs this up:

Searches for homes with air conditioning are up 104% on last summer
87% say a home’s ability to stay cool matters when choosing their next home
Only 11% think their current home stays comfortable in hot weather.

A year of extremes

A single season is easy to dismiss as a blip. The longer-term data says otherwise, in both directions. 2025 was the UK’s warmest year on record, and days above 30°C and nights above 18°C have more than quadrupled in Greater London over the last decade, compared with 1961 to 1990.

Winters are moving too, but towards water rather than cold. The winter half-year across 2016 to 2025 was 13% wetter than 1961 to 1990, and days of air frost are down by around a quarter. The bills follow the water: insurers paid £6.1 billion on weather-related property damage in 2025, and the average homeowner flood payout rose 60% to £30,000.

Nobody can predict in September exactly what the winter will do. The Met Office has confirmed a strong El Niño, which for the UK raises the odds of a milder, wetter and windier autumn and early winter, with colder spells more likely later on.

That changes what buyers are looking for. Shade, orientation and cross-ventilation now sit alongside insulation and boiler age, while gutters, drainage and damp are moving from maintenance jobs to pre-offer questions.

From 38°C to downpours: what weather extremes mean for home buyers

From unprecedented summer sun to a wet winter ahead

A year of extremes

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