This year predicted to be one of the hottest on record amid ‘extraordinary weather’

THIS YEAR is expected to be one of the hottest on record, with temperatures more than 1C above pre-industrial levels, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has said.

While 2017 is not on track to outstrip the record heat of 2016, it is expected to be the second or third warmest year recorded – and the hottest without the influence of an “El Nino” natural weather pattern which pushes up global temperatures.

High temperatures have been accompanied by “extraordinary weather” from record-breaking hurricanes to heatwaves, flooding and drought, many of which bear the tell-tale sign of climate change caused by human activity, the WMO said.

In an announcement as annual UN climate change talks hosted by Fiji began in Bonn, Germany, the WMO said the average global temperature from January to September 2017 was 1.1C above the pre-industrial era. As a result of a powerful El Nino, 2016 is likely to remain the hottest year on record, but 2017 is expected to join 2015 as the second or third hottest year.

The years 2013 to 2017 are likely to be the hottest fiveyear period on record. Parts of southern Europe including Italy, North Africa, parts of eastern and southern Africa and the Asian part of Russia experienced record warm conditions.

WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas said: “The past three years have all been in the top three years in terms of temperature records.

“This is part of a long-term warming trend. We have witnessed extraordinary weather, including temperatures topping 50C (122F) in Asia, record-breaking hurricanes in rapid succession in the Caribbean and Atlantic reaching as far as Ireland.”