2022 will be warmest year on record for UK with 'more extreme weather to come'

The National Trust warns 2022 has been 'challenging for nature' and a 'stark illustration' of the dangers that species will face if we don't take action

There will be more extreme weather in the future, experts have warned, as the Met Office says 2022 will be the UK's warmest year on record.

The average temperature for the year is on track to beat the previous all-time high of 9.88C set in 2014, provisional data shows, with the exact figure to be confirmed in the New Year.

Many will remember the extreme heat of the summer, which saw wildfires and resevoirs dropping to exceptionally low levels.

But Dr Mark McCarthy, head of the Met Office National Climate Information Centre, says it is "noteworthy" that every month except December this year has been warmer than average.

“The warm year is in line with the genuine impacts we expect as a result of human-induced climate change," he said.

ITV News takes a look at some of the extreme weather milestones in the UK this year

“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.”

A sequence of heatwaves starting in June led to the UK experiencing its fourth warmest summer on record.

Meanwhile temperatures broke the 40C mark for the first time, hitting a new record of 40.3C on July 19 at Coningsby in Lincolnshire.

The hot spell in July saw the Met Office issue its first ever red warning for extreme heat. Wales saw a new daily maximum temperature of 37.1C, while Scotland hit a new high of 34.8C.

Met Office temperature records for the UK begin in 1884 and show the top 10 years with the highest annual temperature have all occurred this century.

After 2022 and 2014, the next warmest years are 2006, 2020 and 2011, followed by 2007, 2017, 2003, 2018 and 2004.

Separate data held by the Met Office shows 2022 will also be the warmest year on record for central England, based on a 364-year temperature series dating back to 1659.

Other climate milestones seen this year include the highest ever maximum temperature on New Year's Day - 16.3C recorded at St James’s Park in London.

It also saw the UK's 10th driest summer, and the coldest first two weeks of December since 2010, with temperatures dropping as low as -17.3C at Braemar in the Scottish Highlands.

The figures come amid warnings that 2022’s “litany” of weather extremes, including storms and record-breaking heat, is set to become the new norm.

Keith Jones, climate change adviser at the National Trust, said the year provided a “stark illustration of the sort of difficulties many of our species will face if we don’t do more to mitigate rising temperatures and help nature’s survival”.

He warned that a failure to act could lead to habitats scorched by wildfires and natterjack toads, butterflies, birds and bats hit by drought.

“Weather experts predict that the future will see more torrential downpours, along with very dry and hot summers, with 2022 setting a benchmark for what a ‘typical’ year for weather could be like,” he added.

Meanwhile, according to data from the Office for National Statistics, 56,303 people died during five periods of hot weather between mid-June and late August – 3,271 above the long-term average.

Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said: “These figures provide further undeniable evidence that the UK is warming like the rest of the world.

“The extraordinary summer temperatures, which killed more than 3,000 people around the country, shows that climate change is creating a growing toll through more frequent and intense weather extremes, including heatwaves and heavy rainfall.

“These impacts will continue to increase until global emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are cut to net zero.”

Mike Childs, head of policy, science and research at Friends of the Earth, said: “It’s no surprise that the UK has had its hottest year on record following the extreme heatwaves this summer.

"What is surprising is that the Government is failing so badly to act on climate change.

“It’s granted permission for a new coal mine in Cumbria, given the fossil fuel companies tax breaks to extract more oil and gas, and failed to properly invest in home insulation, despite sky-high energy bills and millions of people in fuel poverty.

“Our climate is in crisis, people are suffering across the world, and governments need to start taking this seriously.”

Rebecca Newsom, head of politics at Greenpeace UK, said: “These aren’t the kind of records you want to be breaking. I’m sure most of us would rather see record-breaking investment in the renewable technologies that’ll get us out of this mess.

“While some newspapers were celebrating the summer sizzler, many of us felt a creeping dread when we saw the scorched brown earth of the heatwave.

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“This isn’t an abstract thing. People around the world are already suffering the devastating consequences of climate breakdown, despite having done little to cause it, like the severe flooding in Pakistan recently.

“But you don’t have to look far to see the accelerating impacts of the climate crisis; increased flooding, unseasonable temperatures and erratic weather systems are becoming the norm.

“The Government can’t just talk big on the world stage. If they’re serious about creating green jobs, keeping homes warm and lowering people’s bills, they urgently need to take action at home to reduce our use of fossil fuels, insulate homes and plough more money into renewable solutions.”

Meanwhile, the current spell of wet and windy weather across much of the UK looks set to continue, with a new warning in place for heavy rain on Friday across south-west Scotland.