2022 is on course to be the warmest year on record in the UK despite a colder-than-usual start to December.
Provisional figures for 2022 - published on Wednesday December 28 - show the year is set to be the warmest since the Met Office's records were first taken in 1884. It breaks the record set in 2014.
One of the weather service's leading meteorologists says the record-setting year is set to be followed by more warmer years due to climate change.
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Dr Mark McCarthy is the head of the Met Office’s National Climate Information Centre. He said: “2022 is going to be the warmest year on record for the UK. While many will remember the summer’s extreme heat, what has been noteworthy this year has been the relatively consistent heat through the year, with every month except December being warmer than average.
“The warm year is 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.”
The temperature record is due to be set despite the coldest first two weeks of December since 2010.
"Up to 27 December, average mean temperature for the UK is just 2.4C, which is 1.8C below the average for the month," the Met Office said.
Spring, summer, autumn and winter are all in the top ten warmest seasons since 1884.
"Temperatures remained above average for every month of the year in 2022, except December which has been cooler than average so far," the Met Office explains.
"While many will remember the unprecedented heat of July, it is the persistence of warmer than average conditions that have resulted in 2022 breaking the annual temperature record."
2022 is the latest in a trend of warmer years. The 10 years with the highest average temperatures on the Met Office's records all occurred since 2003.
As well as being the warmest year in the records the Met Office uses, 2022 is also the warmest in the Central England temperature series, which dates back to 1659.
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