The latest State of the UK Climate report produced by the Met Office shows that nine of the 10 warmest years for the UK have occurred since 2002 and that seven of the 10 wettest years for the UK have occurred since 1998.
All of the top 10 warmest years have occurred since 1990.
The 2017 report is for the first time being published as a special issue of the International Journal of Climatology, the Royal Meteorological Society journal of climate science.
The fourth in a series of annual “State of the UK climate” publications, the report provides an authoritative and up-to-date assessment of UK climate trends, variations and extremes of UK weather and climate through the calendar year 2017. Key highlights include:
- The Central England Temperature series provides evidence that the 21st century so far has overall been warmer than the previous three centuries.
- In the past few decades there has been an increase in annual average rainfall over the UK, particularly over Scotland for which the most recent decade (2008–2017) has been on average 4% wetter than 1981–2010 and 11% wetter than 1961–1990.
- UK summers for the most recent decade (2008–2017) have been on average 17% wetter than 1981–2010 and 20% wetter than 1961–1990, with only summer 2013 drier than average.
- Mean sea level around the UK has risen by approximately 1.4 mm/year from the start of the 20th century.
Current temperatures not yet the ‘new normal’ - but they could be within a few decades
Commenting on the current heatwave, the Met Office said:
“The temperatures we are currently experiencing may not yet be the ‘new normal’, but within a few decades they could be.”
The Met Office is currently carrying out a detailed analysis of the current heatwave and aiming to understand why the weather pattern this summer was so persistent. The analysis will seek to establish to what extent the persistence may be influenced by human-induced climate change, as well as the role of global warming by greenhouse gases in raising the temperatures experienced in the heat wave.
The Met Office will publish its findings later in the year.
Click here to download State of the UK Climate 2017
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