Warming trend now ‘undeniable’
WEATHER: Record-breaking temperatures during last year have confirmed “an undeniable warming trend” across the UK, the Met Office warns today.
Extreme-weather events, including floods which hit the Yorkshire Dales and South Yorkshire, contributed to what climate experts say is “an increasing impact” on Britain.
RECORD-BREAKING TEMPERATURES during last year have confirmed “an undeniable warming trend” across the UK, the Met Office warns today.
A series of extreme weather events, including the floods which hit the Yorkshire Dales exactly a year ago and South Yorkshire in November, contributed to what climate change experts say is “an increasing impact” on Britain.
The latest annual State of the UK Climate review, to be published today, reports last year’s average temperature to have been 1.1C above long-term levels from the 1960s to the 1980s. The most recent decade has been 0.9C warmer than that period.
The UK recorded its hottest temperature ever last year, with 38.7C registered at the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens on July 25, and a new winter record of 21.2C set on February 26 at Kew Gardens in London. It was the first time 20C had been reached in the UK in a winter month.
Even on the mildest day in February, the temperature did not dip below 13.9C in the Scottish Highlands.
The Central England Temperature series, the longest continuous temperature record in the world, which has data for an area of central England stretching back to 1659, suggests that the present century so far has been warmer overall than the previous three, the Met Office said.
Mike Kendon, lead author of the climate study, said: “Our report shows climate change is exerting an increasing impact on the UK’s climate.
“This year was warmer than any other year in the UK between 1884 and 1990, and since 2002 we have seen the warmest 10 years in the series.
“By contrast, to find a year in
the coldest 10 we have to go back to 1963 – over 50 years ago.”
Dr Mark McCarthy, head of the Met Office’s National Climate Information Centre, added: “The climate statistics over time reveal an undeniable warming trend for the UK. The observed changes are to varying degrees a consequence of both global climate change and natural variability in our climate.”
The report includes data on the changing seasons in the natural world, gathered by the Woodland Trust’s Nature’s Calendar citizen science scheme. It showed that a range of common shrubs and trees were on average 9.7 days earlier in putting out their first leaves than in the previous two decades.
Darren Moorcroft, chief executive of the Woodland Trust, said the changes could have “dire impacts further down the food chain”, adding: “This is a stark reminder of the need to take immediate action on climate change.”