2023 was second-warmest year on record in UK, provisional Met Office figures find
Provisional Met Office data found last year was the second hottest since 1884, meaning three of the five warmest years on record have happened in just the last few years. The Met Office said the message is "clear" that climate change is influencing UK weather.
Tuesday 2 January 2024 15:47, UK
Last year was the second hottest on record in the UK, the Met Office has said in provisional figures released today.
It means three of the five warmest years since 1884 have fallen in the last four years - along with 2020 and 2022 - in a sign of how the UK's climate is changing.
The average mean temperature of 9.97C (49.95F) across the UK in 2023 puts it second only to 2022, which had an average of 10.03C (50.05F).
Both Wales and Northern Ireland had their warmest years on record.
Met Office senior scientist Mike Kendon said: "The observations of the UK climate are clear. Climate change is influencing UK temperature records over the long term."
He added: "While our climate will remain variable, with periods of cold and wet weather, what we have observed over recent decades is a number of high temperature records tumbling.
"We expect this pattern to continue as our climate continues to change in the coming years as a result of human-induced climate change."
The news may come as a surprise to those disappointed by the soggy or cool weather in July and August, or those who have battled recent thick snow in Scotland.
But eight of the 12 months last year were hotter than average, and June was also the hottest on record.
As well as being much warmer than average, 2023 was also wetter than average in almost every area of the country apart from western Scotland.
The rainy year helped many areas recover from drought that sank in during a very hot 2022.
Greenpeace UK's policy director, Doug Parr, said: "Climate alarm bells are ringing, following back-to-back hottest years on record, but Sunak has his fingers in his ears."
He cited the greenlighting of new oil and gas projects in the North Sea and tinkering with some key climate targets.
A spokesperson for the government said it is "committed to tackling climate change by meeting our net zero targets ... without placing undue burdens on families".
They added: "We are world leaders in cutting emissions, having done so faster than any major economy since 1990."
However, progress in cutting emissions has slowed in recent years, and the Climate Change Committee said its confidence the UK will meet its upcoming climate targets "has decreased in the past year".
As the atmosphere continues to warm, Britons can expect warmer and wetter winters and hotter and drier summers.
The unsettled, stormy weather in the last week is due to a low pressure system that will at the end of the week give way to higher pressure, bringing colder, drier conditions.
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Zooming out to a global perspective, last year is set to be the planet's hottest for 125,000 years, according to provisional figures released by the United Nations World Meteorological Organisation in November.
The hot year globally was caused by climate change and the El Nino weather pattern that has a warming influence on the world's weather, Copernicus has previously said.