The Met Office has officially declared 2025 as the United Kingdom's warmest year since records began in 1884, cementing a stark trend of rising temperatures driven by climate change.
A Year of Broken Records
The mean average temperature for the UK across the entire year was 10.09°C, narrowly surpassing the previous high of 10.03°C set just three years prior in 2022. This new milestone underscores an accelerating pattern, with four of the nation's top five warmest years all occurring within the current decade. Remarkably, every single one of the UK's top ten warmest years has now been recorded in the last twenty years.
The exceptional warmth was not confined to a single season. Both spring and summer of 2025 were the warmest ever documented for the UK, with spring also ranking as the driest in over a century. Persistent high-pressure systems led to prolonged dry and sunny conditions, ensuring that every month except January and September saw above-average temperatures.
Heatwaves, Droughts, and Unprecedented Sunshine
The summer was punctuated by a relentless series of four heatwaves between mid-June and mid-August, pushing thermometers above 30°C widely across the country. The peak temperature of 35.8°C was recorded in Faversham, Kent, on 1 July. The sustained dry spell triggered official droughts in several regions, caused reservoir levels to plummet below half capacity, and led to hosepipe bans affecting millions of residents.
2025 also secured a place in history as a double-record breaker. In addition to being the hottest year, it was also the sunniest. The UK enjoyed an average of 1,648.5 hours of sunshine, smashing the previous record of 1,587.1 hours set back in 2003.
Expert Attribution to Human-Induced Climate Change
Met Office scientists were unequivocal in linking the record-breaking year to broader global trends. Dr Mark McCarthy, Head of Climate Attribution, stated that the new record is "in line with expected consequences of human-induced climate change." He emphasised that while not every year will set a new record, observations and climate models clearly show global warming is impacting the UK's climate.
Dr Emily Carlisle, a Met Office scientist, highlighted the consistency of the heat. "In the six months from March to August, every month was at least 1°C above the 1991-2020 average," she noted, attributing the conditions to persistent high-pressure and above-average sea temperatures around the UK's coasts.
The regional breakdown shows 2025 was the warmest year on record for England and Scotland, and the second warmest for Wales and Northern Ireland (behind 2023).
Legacy and Future Warnings
Despite a wetter than average autumn, with September, November, and December seeing significant rainfall, the year concluded with the UK having received only 90% of its long-term average rainfall. Some areas, like parts of Sussex, remained in official drought status by year's end.
Helen Wakeham, Director of Water at the Environment Agency, warned of the tangible impacts. "The dry weather... saw widespread drought, which had impacts on our wildlife, our rivers, our canals, and farmers’ harvests," she said. She cautioned that climate change will lead to more extremes of drought and flood, posing the risk of another difficult year if 2025's weather repeats.
This confirmation from the Met Office adds to a growing list of records broken since the turn of the century, with the UK's annual mean temperature record now having been broken six times since 2000: in 2002, 2003, 2006, 2014, 2022, and now 2025.
