One of warmest autumns on record

IT may not feel like it right now as the West endures a bitterly cold snap, but this year has joined

2021 and 2022 as one of the warmest autumns on record in the UK, figures show.

The mean temperature for the past three months was 10.76C, according to provisional data from the Met Office.

This is high enough to rank it as the UK’s sixth warmest autumn since records began in 1884, slightly below last year (11.05C) and 2021 (10.84C).

The season has seen sharp extremes in weather, including a heatwave in early September with temperatures peaking above 30C, another hot spell in October and a cold snap at the very end of November.

All of the UK’s top six warmest autumns have occurred this century, with eight of the top 10.

The warmest autumn on record was in 2006, when the mean temperature was 11.35C.

The Met Office figures show that south-west England provisionally saw its warmest autumn on record this year, with a mean temperature of 12.31C, just above the previous record of 12.28C in 2011.

England as a whole saw its third warmest autumn, with a mean temperature of 12.01C, ranking behind 2006 (12.37C) and 2011 (12.17C).

Wales also saw its third warmest autumn, at 11.47C, behind 2011 (11.55C) and 2006 (11.53C).

Met Office senior scientist

Mike Kendon said: “Once again the autumn has demonstrated the huge variability in our climate.

“Temperatures over 30C in early September seem a distant memory to the current cold snap, with a hard frost and snow currently lying on Dartmoor.

“The succession of named storms experienced through the autumn illustrates the potential of our weather, strong winds and particularly heavy rain, to cause significant widespread impacts.

“Overall this has been another mild and wet autumn, and this is consistent with the ongoing pattern which is emerging as our climate continues to change.”

Four named storms hit the UK from late September to midNovember,– Agnes, Babet, Ciaran and Debi – all of which led to exceptionally wet and windy conditions.

Scotland had its wettest two-day period on record on October 6-7, while Babet brought the third wettest three-day period on record for England and Wales from October 18-20.

The unsettled weather meant the UK saw its 11th wettest autumn on record this year, in a series dating back to 1836.