The Heat Is On: Last Year Was Warmest On Record For UK

Average temperatures pushed past 10C for the first time ever

- Emily Beament

The UK recorded an annual average temperature of more than 10C for the first time last year, the Met Office said as it confirmed 2022 was the country's hottest on record.

Research by Met Office scientists has found that climate change driven by humans made the UK's record-breaking annual temperature around 160 times more likely to occur. The full temperature data for 2022 shows that the country saw a provisional annual average temperature of 10.03C, the highest in records dating back to 1884 and 0.15C higher than the previous record of 9.88C set in 2014.

The warm conditions would have been expected once in 500 years under a natural climate, without humans warming the planet through activities such as burning fossil fuels, but is now likely every three to four years in the current climate, the experts said.