UK records hottest and sunniest year ever in 2025, says weather service

LONDON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Britain experienced its hottest and sunniest year on record in 2025, surpassing the previous high set in 2022, the national weather service said on Friday, as persistent high-pressure systems and unusually warm seas drove up temperatures.

The Met Office said the average annual temperature was 10.09 degrees Celsius (50.16 degrees Fahrenheit), topping the 2022 average of 10.03 C and marking only the second year since detailed records began in 1884 that the annual mean temperature has exceeded 10 C.

The reading also placed four of the last five years in the top five warmest years since 1884, an indication of just how fast the climate is changing, the Met Office said last month when it first flagged the possibility of a new record.

"Although it doesn't mean every year will be the warmest on record, it is clear from our weather observations and climate models that human-induced global warming is impacting the UK's climate," said Mark McCarthy, head of climate attribution at the Met Office.

All of the top-10 warmest years have occurred in the last two decades, and since the start of the 21st century, a record has been set for UK annual mean temperature six times – in 2002, 2003, 2006, 2014, 2022 and now 2025.

The data aligns with global trends, with the World Meteorological Organization saying in 2025 that the last 10 years have been the 10 warmest since records began.

The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) has predicted 2025 will be the world's second- or third-warmest on record in modern data, as extreme weather continued to hit regions around the globe last year.

Globally, 2024 was the hottest year on record, as well as the warmest for Europe - the planet's fastest-warming continent.

(Reporting by Muvija M and Sam Tabahriti, editing by Paul Sandle)