The Met Office has said that 2022 will be the warmest year on record for the United Kingdom, highlighting how human-induced climate change has impacted the country’s weather pattern.
This year, the UK’s annual average temperature would exceed the previous record set in 2014, when the average was 9.88 degrees Celsius, the Met Office said.
The final figure for 2022 will be released at the end of the year and will then be subjected to further quality control and a verification process.
The weather body said that ever since the record-keeping started in 1884, when the greenhouse gas emissions started, each of the 10 years recording the highest annual temperature has occurred from 2002
“2022 is going to be the warmest year on record for the UK. While many will remember the summer’s extreme heat, what has been noteworthy this year has been the relatively consistent heat through the year, with every month except December being warmer than average,” Dr Mark McCarthy, the head of the Met Office’s National Climate Information Centre, said, according to Guardian.
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“The warm year is in line with the genuine impacts we expect as a result of human-induced climate change. Although it doesn’t mean every year will be the warmest on record, climate change continues to increase the chances of increasingly warm years over the coming decades.”
This year would not only be notable for record-breaking heat, but also for the extreme weather that occurred, including the heatwave in July, across the country, the forecasters said.
UK recorded its first-ever temperature of over 40 degrees Celsius in July from Coningsby, Lincolnshire.
At that time, the Met Office issued its first-ever red warning for extreme heat with widespread impacts for the UK. The heatwave also dried up the source of the River Thames.
(With inputs from agencies)
