As America freezes over... 2022 is UK’s hottest year
Blizzards and scorchers, we’ve seen them all (now get set for a wet New Year) ... and wild weather’s striking across world
AS a year of global weather extremes draws to an end with deadly snowstorms in the US, across the Atlantic it has emerged that 2022 is Britain’s hottest on record.
The UK’s provisional average temperature for the year stood at 50.3F (10.2C) yesterday – compared with the previous record of 49.8F (9.9C) from 2014.
A definitive average will be calculated by the Met Office when the calendar year ends.
It comes as extreme snowstorms continued to sweep the north of America, even leading to Niagara Falls partially freezing over.
Homes on the shores of Lake Erie, on the border of Canada and the US, were encased in thick ice yesterday in the wake of the bomb cyclone.
At least 68 people are known to have died in what has been described as the ‘blizzard of the century’.
The storm hit over the Christmas weekend and, while the worst of the snowfall is now believed to have passed, melting ice and rain raises the risk of flooding. Other freak weather included a hail storm in the desert state of Kuwait yesterday. Meanwhile, sandstorms hit the Canary Islands with winds that forecasters said could reach hurricane force (more than 73mph).
Meanwhile, wet and windy weather linked to the US storms looks set to dampen New Year celebrations in the UK.
This morning’s high tide could cause flooding at Scarborough, North Yorkshire, due to large waves and winds gusting at more than 30mph.
Nicola Maxey, from the Met Office, said: ‘The extreme cold weather in the US has boosted the jet stream, which is bringing our wet and windy weather.’
Today is set to be mostly showery, before a band of rain moves east tomorrow, followed by more showers.
On New Year’s Eve, revellers can expect ‘a blustery day and evening’, said Miss Maxey. Next week is set to start with a drier and brighter interlude before further ‘showers or longer spells of rain’.
The warmest day of Britain’s searing summer was July 19, when temperatures exceeded 104F for the first time. Coningsby, Lincolnshire, reached 104.5F (40.3C).
All four seasons of the year were among the top ten warmest against records dating back to 1884, while 2022 is also the warmest year on record in the 364-year Central England temperature series from 1659.
At the same time, however, this month saw the coldest first two weeks of December since 2010, with temperatures as low as 0.9F (-17.3C) at Braemar in the Highlands on December 13. Up to Tuesday, the average mean December temperature for the UK was 36.3F (2.4C), which is 35.2F (1.8C) below the average for the month.
Dr Mark McCarthy, of the Met Office, said: ‘What has been noteworthy this year has been the relatively consistent heat through the year, with every month except December being warmer than average.’
In other provisional statistics, the Met Office said 2022 is likely to be one of the ten sunniest for the UK as a whole and in the top three sunniest for England.
The year is set to be among the top ten driest in East Anglia, while southern England has received only threequarters of usual rainfall.
‘Searing summer and an icy December’