Climate change: Hottest June ever recorded in the UK had huge impacts on the environment

The UK has just had its hottest June ever.

This is according to the country's weather service called the Met Office, it has said that while weather patterns do change naturally, climate change has made these extreme heatwaves more likely in recent years.

The warm weather has had significant impacts on our environment, experts have warned.

Environmentalist groups have said the hot temperatures caused fish to die, and has disturbed plants and insects that aren't used to the heat.

The Environment Agency said it received more reports of dead fish this year than at the same time last year.

And many flowers, including orchids, wilted in the high temperatures, meaning insects like bees and butterflies that feed on nectar and pollen will have less to eat, Ali Morse from the Wildlife Trusts told BBC News.

Healthy rivers are essential for fish to thrive

Why does the heat affect fish?

Fish evolve to be used to the precise conditions of where they live, and any changes can give them a shock.

Dr Nova Mieszkowska, Senior Research Fellow at the Marine Biological Association, told Newsround: "Marine life is adapted to a range of temperature conditions within the ocean.

"When extreme events like heatwaves occur, these can negatively affect some species - some can suffer damage or death due to extreme temperatures."

She explained that some are more at risk than others when these changes happen: "Species that live on rocky shores can be damaged by both hot air and hot water temperatures, which can pose a double threat to their health and survival.

"Sometimes mass deaths occur if the temperatures are high enough, or if the heatwave lasts for long enough."

Dead fish in the water near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a few years ago

Some fish move to colder waters when their local waters heat up, but some either can't or don't do it in time.

For these fish, there are a number of things that can cause their habit to become unliveable.

One is that the oxygen levels in the water decrease as it gets hotter, making it harder for the fish to breathe.

Another is that their food sources like plankton are also affected by the heat, so the fish don't have enough to eat.

Why does the heat affect plants and insects?

Hot weather can cause plants to wilt

When the weather gets hotter than plants are used to, they dry up and wilt.

If they die, they can no longer provide food for the insects that feed on their pollen.

The pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly

This is particularly bad for insect species with very short lifespans, such as butterflies.

Many butterflies are adults for only a short time, and if they cannot access food in that period, they won't be able to reproduce and so the population gets smaller.

This is a worry, as many UK butterfly species are seeing their populations dwindle, and some are even close to extinction.