The Met Office has confirmed that 2025 was the UK's warmest and sunniest year on record, with a mean temperature of 10.09°C. This surpasses the previous record set in 2022, making it the second time since the 19th century that the annual mean temperature has exceeded 10°C. The three hottest years on record have now all occurred in this decade, with all of the top ten warmest years happening in the past two decades.
Dr Mark McCarthy, head of climate attribution at the Met Office, said: "2025 was the warmest year on record for the UK, surpassing the previous record set in 2022, in a series dating back to 1884. We're increasingly seeing UK temperatures break new ground in our changing climate." He added that this very warm year is in line with expected consequences of human-induced climate change.
Spring and summer 2025 were notably warm, with multiple heatwaves, though the record hottest day remains 19 July 2022, when temperatures exceeded 40°C. Dr Emily Carlisle noted that every month except January and September was warmer than average, with March to August each at least 1°C above the 1991-2020 average. This resulted in the warmest spring and summer in the series.
2025 also became the sunniest year since records began in 1910, with 1,648.5 hours of sunshine—61.4 hours more than the previous record set in 2003. The increased sunshine boosted solar power generation, with solar farms meeting over 6% of Britain's annual energy requirements, a more than 50% increase on recent years.
Overall rainfall was below average, with some areas experiencing record low levels. The Met Office attributed the warmth to persistent high-pressure systems bringing dry, sunny conditions, alongside above-average sea temperatures around the UK.
