2025 on target to be UK’s hottest year on record: Met Office

LONDON: This year may have been Britain’s hottest on record, with an average temperature above 10 degrees Celsius, the national weather service said on Tuesday.

Definitive figures for 2025 will be released next January 2, but as of the final week of this year, the average temperature has been 10.05C.

The previous high was 10.03C in 2022, the Met Office said.

If the data is confirmed, it will mean that four of the past five years will be among the hottest ever recorded in the country since records began in 1884.

The hottest 10 years have all occurred during the past two decades.

“In terms of our climate, we are living in extraordinary times,” said senior Met Office scientist Mike Kendon.

“The changes we are seeing are unprecedented in observational records (going) back to the 19th century.”

Last week, the Met Office published data showing that 2025 was the sunniest year since at least 1910.

As of December 15, the UK had seen 1,622 hours of sunshine, beating the record set in 2003.

Spring was the sunniest season in 2025, when high pressure reduced Britain’s cloud cover.

Spring 2025 was the hottest the UK has ever seen, with four heatwaves and rainfall 16 percent lower than the seasonal average.