Temperature rising: 2016 set to be hottest year on record

Freezing commuters in the UK may find it hard to believe right now, but 2016 is set to be the hottest year on record globally, according to provisional figured from the World Meteorological Organisation.

Temperatures this year appear to have beaten those recorded last year, the WMO said.

“Another year. Another record. The high temperatures we saw in 2015 are set to be beaten in 2016,” Petteri Taalas, the WMO secretary-general, said.

The WMO figures have been released to inform the latest round of UN climate talks Credit: PA

But the figures have a serious side - the provisional assessment by the WMO has been released to inform the latest round of UN climate talks, taking place in Morocco where delegates are focusing on implementing the Paris Agreement, the world's first comprehensive climate treaty.

Along with the warmer weather, climate change has increased the incidents of extreme weather events, with flooding and heatwaves becoming more common, the WMO's Mr Taalas said.

Some scenes from the summer seem far off now Credit: PA

According to the WMO, global temperatures this year are approximately 1.2C (2.16F) above pre-industrial levels, and 0.88C (1.58F) above the average for 1961-1990, which the WMO uses as a reference period.

That means 2016 is on track to be the hottest year on record since the 19th century.

But the year has also seen record-breaking concentrations of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as well as melting ice, coral reefs bleaching as oceans warm and above-average sea level rises.