2022 will be the warmest year on record for the UK, according to provisional figures from the Met Office.
All four seasons in 2022 were in the top 10 warmest on record for the UK, the forecasting service said on Wednesday.
Winter was the eighth warmest, spring the fifth warmest, summer the fourth warmest and autumn the third warmest.
The fourth warmest summer in the series for the UK was underlined with temperatures in excess of 40C recorded in the UK for the first time in a series which began in 1884.
The final provisional figure for 2022 will be available at the conclusion of the year and will then be subject to further quality control and a verification process.
However, according to provisional figures, 2022 looks likely to set a new 139-year annual mean temperature record.
Dr Mark McCarthy, the head of the Met Office’s National Climate Information Centre, 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 forecaster said temperatures had remained above average for every month of the year in 2022, except December which so far has been cooler than average.
The fourth warmest summer in the series for the UK was underlined with temperatures in excess of 40C recorded in the UK for the first time.
Coningsby, Lincolnshire, recorded the highest temperature, with 40.3C exceeding the previous UK record by 1.6C.
The hot period in July saw the Met Office issue its first ever red warning for extreme heat with widespread impacts for the UK.
2022 has seen the coldest first two weeks of December since 2010.
Up to 27 December, the average mean temperature for the UK is just 2.4C, which is 1.8C below the average for the month.
Temperatures dropped as low as –17.3C at Braemar on 13 December as cool northerly air influenced the UK weather.
On Tuesday, the National Trust's annual review found that this year’s weather had been hugely challenging for nature.
As well as warmer-than-average temperatures, the country has faced violent storms, a severe drought and record-breaking heat in 2022.
It is a “stark illustration” of what will be typical UK weather without more action on climate change, the Trust warns.
Keith Jones, climate change adviser at the National Trust, said: “Weather experts predict that the future will have more torrential downpours, along with very dry and hot summers, with 2022 setting a benchmark for a ‘typical’ year for weather.
“But the ‘new normal’ is likely to result in even more extreme weather events than now.”
