New report illustrates shocking scale of climate crisis in the UK
2025 was the warmest year in the UK since records began
2025 was the warmest year in the UK since records began in 1884, and the last four years have all been in the top five warmest years. That’s the verdict of a devastating new report into the state of the UK’s climate from the Met Office.
The report – which is an annual assessment of the UK’s climate – has confirmed that recent decades have seen the frequency of extreme temperatures in the UK has increased. It found that the number of days of over 30°C and nights over 18°C in Greater London more than quadrupled in 2016-2025 compared to 1961 to 1990. Additionally, the average hottest day of the year has warmed by more than 4.5°C in an area between Kent Lincolnshire in 2016-2025 compared to 1961-1990.
The Met Office has also shown that since 1901 the sea level around the UK has risen by around 20.1cm, and that this rise is taking place at an accelerating rate.
Elsewhere in the report, the Met Office identified that winters in the UK have become wetter, that the number of marine heatwaves have increased substantially in Northwest European seas, and that the UK is getting sunnier.
The report says that these changes in the UK’s climate are ‘unprecedented’.
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
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