Seasons at the allotment: December 2022

December broke the trend for 2022 by being colder than average.

We saw the coldest first two weeks of December since 2010

Every other month had recorded temperatures above the long-term average.

It means that, even with the freezing temperatures recorded in December, 2022 will go down as the hottest year the UK has recorded.

For the first time the average temperature was above 10ºC.

Since reliable records began in 1884, all the ten years recording the highest annual temperature have occurred from 2003.

The fourth warmest summer in the series for the UK was underlined with temperatures in excess of 40C recorded in the UK for the first time.

2022 will also be remembered for its dry conditions.

Heavy rainfall at the beginning of January and at the end of February were anomalies in a year that saw the UK’s total rainfall accumulation has remained persistently below average for the year.