The past three years have all been in the UK’s top five hottest on record, according to the Met Office’s latest annual assessment of the UK’s climate.
The recent State of the UK Climate 2024 report shows the country has been warming at approximately 0.25°C per decade since the 1980s.
From 2015 to 2024, it was 0.41°C warmer than 1991 to 2020, and 1.24°C warmer than from 1961 to 1990.
The study shows how rising temperatures are leading to fewer days when buildings need heating and more days when they require cooilng. From 2015 to 2024 there were 5% fewer heating degree days than from 1991 to 2020 and 14% fewer than 1961 to 1990.
Cooling degree days almost doubled from 2015 to 2024 compared with 1961 to 1990.
And 2024 saw the fourth-lowest heating degree days than in any year since 1931. It included the UK’s second warmest February, warmest May, fifth warmest December, fifth warmest winter and the warmest spring on record, the Met Office said.
Between 2015 and 2024, the UK recorded its all-time highest maximum temperature in five of the 12 months of the year.
Hottest summer days are warming about twice as fast as average summer days. The 21st century has also seen six of the 10 wettest winter half-years (October–March) in England and Wales since 1767.
