Climate crisis: 2023 was UK’s second-hottest year on record

Such a warm year would have occurred once in 500 years without global heating, Met Office scientists say

The UK had its second-hottest year on record in 2023, according to provisional data from the Met Office, as the climate crisis continued to deliver elevated temperatures.

Such a warm year would have occurred only once in 500 years without human-caused global heating, the scientists said. The heat peaked in June and September, both record hot months in a series dating back to 1884. The UK’s 10 warmest years have all occurred since 2003.

Globally, 2023 is expected to have been the planet’s hottest year on record, driven by carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere that are at their highest for at least 2m years and the return of the Pacific Ocean phenomenon known as El Niño.

“The observations of the UK climate are clear,” said Mike Kendon, at the Met Office. “Climate change is influencing UK temperature records over the long term, with 2023 going down as another very warm year.”

“2023 also had more than its fair share of rain, with impactful storms like Babet and Ciarán influencing the figures,” he said. “Climate projections suggest an increase in the frequency of hotter, drier summers and warmer, wetter winters. A warmer atmosphere has a greater capacity to hold moisture, so as our climate warms, we expect it to become wetter, too, and that trend is also apparent in the observations.”

The average temperature in 2023 of 9.97C was marginally lower than the 10.03C recorded in 2022. The Met Office said such warm years were expected every three years in today’s heated climate.

Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics, said: “The warming [in 2023] has been accompanied by sea level rise around our coasts, more intense rainfall and more deadly heatwaves, all of which are harming a growing number of lives and livelihoods in the UK. All of these impacts will go on increasing until the world reaches net zero emissions.

“The UK should be leading by example in tackling the causes of climate change, particularly fossil fuels,” he said, adding that the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, “must show he understands how imperative it is to accelerate, and not slow down, the transition to net zero emissions”.

The UK is awarding new licences for oil and gas extraction and has approved a new coalmine.

Greenpeace UK’s policy director, Doug Parr, said: “Climate alarm bells are ringing, following back-to-back hottest years on record, but Sunak has his fingers in his ears. There is massive voter support for climate action. Unless Sunak reverses these decisions and delivers the kind of bold policies needed to tackle the climate crisis, his likely short premiership will be marked as one of climate failure.”

A government spokesperson said: “We are committed to tackling climate change by meeting our net zero targets and international commitments, all without placing undue burdens on families. We are world leaders in cutting emissions, having done so faster than any major economy since 1990, and with the UK now accounting for just one per cent of annual global emissions.”

cover photo The heat peaked in June and September, both record hot months in a series dating back to 1884. Photograph: Mike Kemp/In Pictures/Getty Images