2023 was provisionally the second warmest year on record for the UK says the Met Office
2023’s provisional mean temperature of 9.97°C puts it just behind 2022’s figure of 10.03°C and ahead of 2014’s 9.88°C. 2023 was also ranked as the second warmest for Central England Temperature (CET), the world’s longest instrumental temperature series from 1659.
Eight of the 12 months of the year were warmer than average for the UK. June and September were particularly warm compared to average.
It was the hottest June on record for the UK by a wide margin, and the joint-hottest September as temperatures in the year peaked at 33.5°C on 10 September – only the fifth time this has happened in September in observational records.
Met Office Senior Scientist Mike Kendon said: “The observations of the UK climate are clear. Climate change is influencing UK temperature records over the long term, with 2023 going down as another very warm year and the second warmest on record. Had the 2023 value occurred during the 20th Century, it would have been, by far, the warmest year on record.
“While our climate will remain variable, with periods of cold and wet weather, what we have observed over recent decades is a number of high temperature records tumbling.
“We expect this pattern to continue as our climate continues to change in the coming years as a result of human-induced climate change.”
2023’s warmth was spearheaded by notable heatwaves in June and September and was backed up by above average temperatures for eight of the 12 months of the year.
Met Office Climate Attribution Senior Scientist, Dr Andy Ciavarella, said: “Observations are showing the UK’s climate is changing, but our attribution study, which compares today’s climate with one that was solely influenced by natural factors, has shown that human caused emissions of greenhouse gasses have made this much more likely.
