Britain on track for warmest year ever on record, Met Office says

According to the data, this year would mark just the second occasion the UK's yearly average has surpassed the 10C threshold.

The announcement comes as forecasters monitor conditions closely ahead of the year's end, with 2025 set to join 2022 and 2023 among the three warmest years on historical record.

Temperature records stretching back to 1884 show an unmistakable warming trend, with the country's annual average climbing approximately 1C over the past four decades.

Senior scientist at the Met Office Mike Kendon said: "At this stage it looks more likely than not that 2025 will be confirmed as the warmest year on record for the UK."

He added: "In terms of our climate, we are living in extraordinary times. The changes we are seeing are unprecedented in observational records back to the 19th century."

The Met Office scientist noted confirmation would represent the second time this decade that Britain has broken its annual temperature record, following the milestone set in 2022.

Every one of the ten warmest years since records commenced in 1884 has occurred within the last twenty years.

Four of the past five years now feature among the five hottest on record.

Despite the strong likelihood of a new record, forecasters caution a cold snap is expected over the festive period and into the new year means the final outcome remains uncertain.

The Met Office has indicated definitive confirmation must wait until all December data has been collected and analysed.

Since 2000, Britain has established a new annual mean temperature record on six separate occasions, with each successive high surpassing the last.

These milestones were reached in 2002, 2003, 2006, 2014, 2022, and potentially now 2025.

Mr Kendon suggested the current record would not stand for long, given the trajectory of warming observed over recent decades.

Professor Friederike Otto, a climate scientist, described the findings as "devastating and utterly unsurprising", saying that while 10C may not seem particularly warm, it represents an average figure.

He said: "It is an average and means much higher temperatures in the summer, high temperatures that would have never been possible are now common, and that is not good news.”

Policy and Communications Director at the London School of Economics, Bob Ward, emphasised the implications for policy.

He said: "This is further evidence of the impacts of climate change in the UK, and the urgent need for us to stop warming by leading the world in reaching net zero emissions of greenhouse gases as soon as possible."

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