UK 2022 was warmest year on record, Met Office says 

2022 was the UK’s warmest year on record, the Met Office says. 

The average annual temperature was more than 10C for the first time, it said. 

The mean temperature across the year was 10.03C- topping the previous record of 9.88C in 2014. 

It means 15 of the UK’s top 20 warmest years on record all occurred this century. 

Dr Mark McCarthy, head of the Met Office National Climate Information Centre, said: “Although an arbitrary number, the UK surpassing an annual average temperature of 

10C is a notable moment in our climatological history.

“This moment comes as no surprise, since 1884 all the 10 years recording the highest annual temperature have occurred from 2003.

“It is clear from the observational record that human-induced global warming is already impacting the UK’s climate.”

All four nations set 2022 heat records – with England seeing the highest average temperature at 10.94C, followed by Wales at 10.23C, Northern Ireland at 9.85C and Scotland at 8.50C. 

The Met Office said that a UK mean temperature of 10C would have been expected once in 500 years in a natural climate – before humans started producing emissions. 

This is now likely to occur every three to four years in the current climate. 

A recent report on climate extremes in the UK found that recent years have seen both higher maximum temperatures and longer warm spells.