2025 has already been the sunniest year on record for the UK, according to provisional Met Office statistics.
The UK recorded 1622 hours of sunshine up until 15 December, beating its previous sunniest year set in 2003, in a series which dates back to 1910.
England too has already had its sunniest year on record, already topping its previous record figure set in 2003.
With a couple of weeks still to go, Scotland has already had its second sunniest year on record, and Wales its sixth. While Northern Ireland has seen above average sunshine so far, it’s not yet within its ten sunniest years on record, though it could yet reach its top ten by the close of the year.
January started the year on a sunny note, before below-average sunshine figures in February helped develop a duller meteorological winter (24/25) than average.
Spring outshone all the seasons with the sunniest spring on record, and the fourth sunniest season on record, beaten by just three summers (1911, 1976 and 1995). Summer was also sunnier than average whilst autumn saw below-average sunshine amounts.
At weather station level, Magilligan, County Londonderry, recorded 301.3 hours of sunshine in May 2025, the highest monthly sunshine total ever recorded in Northern Ireland for any month.
Met Office Senior Scientist Mike Kendon said: “The record-breaking sunshine across the UK this year was driven by the frequent influence of high pressure that reduced cloud cover and brought sunny skies for many.
“Spring was exceptional, and many will remember the long spells of days with largely unbroken sunshine. It began with the third-sunniest March on record, followed by a record-breaking sunniest April and then the second-sunniest May. All three months of the summer also saw above-average sunshine hours and while sunny periods are not unusual at this time of year, the duration and consistency of high-pressure systems made 2025 notably sunnier than average.
“So far this year, only the months of February and October have recorded below-average sunshine hours.”
The latest UK State of the Climate Report highlights how the UK has generally become sunnier since the 1980s. The cause of this trend is uncertain, and it may simply be down to natural variability, though reduced aerosols could be a factor. Climate projections currently show no definitive evidence of a future trend in sunshine amounts due to climate change.
Recent years show this natural variability well, with 2024 the dullest year since 1998, in contrast to 2025 which will now go down as the UK’s sunniest year on record.
