The Met Office has stated that 2025 is “more likely than not” to become the UK’s hottest year on record, following a summer of heatwaves and drought and a mild autumn. The mean temperature for the year is tracking ahead of the previous record set in 2022, though a cold spell expected from Christmas to the new year could affect the final outcome.
If confirmed, 2025 would be only the second year in observational records where the UK’s annual mean temperature exceeds 10°C. It would also join 2022 and 2023 among the top three warmest years, with four of the past five years featuring in the top five since records began in 1884.
Mike Kendon, a senior scientist in the Met Office’s climate information team, said: “This should come as no surprise. Over the last four decades the UK’s annual temperature has risen by about 1°C.” He added that since 2000, a new record has been set six times, each progressively warmer than the last.
Earlier this year, the Met Office confirmed the UK had its hottest summer on record, with a mean temperature of 16.1°C across June, July and August. All five of the hottest summers have occurred since 2000. Kendon described the current climate as “extraordinary” and “unprecedented in observational records back to the 19th century.”
