Global heat records broken

GLOBAL temperature records have continued to tumble as June became the 14th month in a row to reach new highs, US scientists have said.

The global average temperature across land and sea surfaces in June was 0.9°C above normal for the 20th century, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) said.

It was the hottest June in records dating back to 1880, and the 14th consecutive month that a monthly global temperature record was broken – the longest such streak since records began.

It is also the 40th June in a row to see temperatures beating the 20th century average.

The last time the global temperature across land and sea surfaces for June was below average was in 1976.

June was the 378th consecutive month with temperatures above 20th-century averages, with no below-average month since December 1984.

The UK saw average temperatures for the month of 13.9°C, some 0.9°C above the average for 1981-2010, mostly due to extremely warm nighttime temperatures, Noaa said.

The average minimum temperature for the UK was the joint warmest in records going back to 1910, the data showed.

The record highs have happened in the face of a powerful El Nino climate phenomenon in the Pacific and warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions.