London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, May 09, 2025

2022 will be warmest year ever for UK, Met Office says

2022 will be warmest year ever for UK, Met Office says

The Met Office has said 2022 will be the warmest year on record for the UK.

According to provisional figures, every month was hotter than average, with the exception of December when the UK experienced a notable cold snap.

The year's average temperature will likely beat the previous all-time high of 9.88C, set in 2014.

The exact mean temperature is set to be confirmed in the new year but the Met office said the consistent heat this year had been noteworthy.

Dr Mark McCarthy, a senior climate scientist at the Met Office, said the provisional figures are in line with the "genuine impacts we expect as a result of human-induced climate change".

"Although it doesn't mean every year will be the warmest on record, climate change continues to increase the chances of increasingly warm years over the coming decades," Dr McCarthy added.

A spell of heatwaves in June led to the UK experiencing its fourth warmest summer on record, as temperatures broke the 40C mark for the first time.

During the intense heat in July, the Met Office issued its first ever red warning for extreme heat. The temperatures seen in mid-July would have been "extremely unlikely in the pre-industrial period - the era before humanity started emitting lots of greenhouse gases," Dr McCarthy explained.

"As we have seen in the first two weeks of December, our climate is still subject to notable cold spells during the winter season, but our observational data show these have generally become less frequent and less severe as our climate warms," he said.


The weather extremes of 2022


*  In February, Storm Franklin became the third named storm to hit the UK in a week - following Dudley and Eunice - the first time this has happened since the storm naming system was introduced in 2015

*  A new record UK high of 40.3C was recorded at Coningsby in Lincolnshire on 19 July 2022

*  An official drought was declared in large parts of England in August, as low-water levels and tinder-dry conditions gripped the UK

*  Autumn 2022 was one of the UK's warmest, with November being 1.8C above average, making it the third warmest on record, behind only 2006 and 2011, according to the Met Office

*  December's cold snap put the UK in the grip of a spell of severe cold weather, with snow, ice and fog warnings in place across the UK

Last week, the Met Office said it was expecting 2023 to be warmer than this year, and one of the hottest on record.

Predictions suggest it will be the 10th year in a row where the global temperature is at least 1C above average.

Scientific evidence shows that climate change is driving up the global temperature, and governments around the world have promised to cut emissions to keep temperature rises below 1.5C.


In a separate report, the National Trust warned that extreme weather seen throughout the year has set a benchmark for what a typical year could be like.

The charity said high temperatures, drought and back-to-back storms have created major challenges for nature in years to come.

In its annual review, it said this year was a "stark illustration" of the difficulties many UK species could face without more action to tackle climate change.

The hot summer and months of low rainfall dried up rivers, fragile chalk streams and ponds, damaged crops and natural habitats, and fuelled wildfires that destroyed landscapes, the charity said.

Wildfires in the West Country destroyed the habitat of some of the UK's rarest species, including sand lizards.


The National Trust's climate change adviser, Keith Jones, said there was "no escaping" how challenging this year's weather had been for nature.

"Drought, high temperatures, back-to-back storms, unseasonal heat, the recent cold snap and floods means nature, like us, is having to cope with a new litany of weather extremes," he said.

He added weather experts were predicting the future would see more torrential downpours, along with very dry and hot summers.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Historic Papal Conclave Set to Commence in Rome
Huge Copper, Gold, and Silver Discovery in Argentina and Chile — But the Profits Go Abroad
Prince Harry is pleading for reconciliation — but the royals are just as sick of his victimhood as everyone else
The Road to Freedom: She Protested Putin, Escaped House Arrest, and Survived a 2,800-Kilometer Journey
OpenAI's Flip-Flop: No Longer Going Commercial, Back to Nonprofit, After Musk Lawsuit and Backlash
“Trump Supporter” Aims to Bring a MAGA-Style Shift to Romania
First From China: Zhao Xintong Wins the Snooker World Championship
Nvidia Faces Billion-Dollar Losses – Warns: China Is on Its Way to Becoming an AI Superpower
Trump Rules Out Third Term, Names JD Vance and Marco Rubio as Potential Successors
Mexico Says ‘No’ to U.S. Troops: President Sheinbaum Rejects Trump’s Offer to Fight Cartels
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Storms the Map, Wrecking the Two-Party Monopoly
DOGE: Reimagining Government Operations with AI
Common Sense Returns to Britain's Legal System: UK Supreme Court Declares a Woman Is… a Woman
Beijing Says U.S. Is ‘Reaching Out’ for Tariff Talks Amid Soaring Trade Tensions
U.K. Court Rejects Prince Harry’s Final Appeal Over Police Security
Prince Harry’s Heartfelt Outburst Rocks the Royal Family
Trump Shares AI-Generated Image of Himself as… Pope, Prompting Outrage Reaction
Transgender Swimmer Secures Five Gold Medals at U.S. Masters Championship
Prince Harry: “I Want Reconciliation with My Family”
Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has now been officially labeled “right-wing extremist” by the federal office for the so-called “protection of the constitution.”
Amazon Launches Satellite Internet Service Amidst Competition with SpaceX
Transformative Changes in Women's Wrestling: The Rise of WWE Superstars
The Rush to the White Gold: Global Investment Surge in Natural Hydrogen Exploration
This is a day in Spain without electricity and internet
Reform UK Surprises in British Elections, Challenging Traditional Two-Party System
180-Year-Old Christian University in South Carolina Announces Closure Due to Unmet $6 Million Fundraising Goal
Brazilian Woman Jailed for Fourteen Years for Writing “You Lost, Idiot” on Statue During Protest
Trump Administration Removes National Security Adviser Mike Waltz Amid Signal Chat Controversy
Dutch Politician Eva Vlaardingerbroek Receives Spyware Threat Alert from Apple
Paramount Board Considers Settlement in Trump’s $20 Billion Lawsuit Over "60 Minutes" Interview
U.S. Economy Shrink in Trump’s First Quarter as Tariff Policy Raises Questions
Deadline Looms for RTS Meter Replacement: Hundreds of Thousands at Risk of Heating Disruption
Sweden Grapples with Deadly Gun Violence: Suspect Arrested After Three Young Men Killed in Uppsala Hair Salon
Walz Reveals Why Harris Chose Him as Her Running Mate and Reflects on Democratic Losses
Spain Restores Power After Unprecedented Nationwide Blackout
Carney Secures Liberal Mandate in Canada’s Federal Election
Death Penalty Sought as Luigi Manion Pleads Not Guilty in CEO Murder Case
President Trump contacts Jeff Bezos after reports of Amazon considering listing tariff surcharges; company clarifies no such plan for main platform
Spain and Portugal Recover from Massive Blackout
Liverpool Clinches Record-Equalling 20th English League Title Under Arne Slot
Singapore Politicians Warn Against Foreign Interference in Election
Driver Ploughs into Vancouver Festival Crowd, Killing Nine
Depression, Fear of Defamation, and a Tragic End: New Details on Virginia Giuffre’s Suicide
“Sharia for UK, Allah Akbar!”
Massive Explosion at Iran's Bandar Abbas Port Linked to Suspicious Chemical Shipments
Incident Reflection: A Harsh Reality Check
Pakistani migrants to Danish man: “ “We have 5 children while you have 1 or 2. In 10 years, there will be more Pakistanis than Danes here.“
Clashes Erupt in London as Tensions Rise Between Indian and Pakistani Communities
Specialized anti-drone weapons deployed among security personnel Ahead of Papal Funeral
How do you fix this culture?
×