Currently the mean temperature value for the year so far (up to Sunday 21 December) is tracking well ahead of the previous highest year set in 2022. However, a forecast colder spell from Christmas and extending into 2026 makes it too close to call definitively.

UK temperature map expressed as values in C above average

Four of the UK’s last five years will appear in the top five warmest years in a series from 1884 – an indication of just how fast our climate is changing. All top-ten warmest years will have occurred in the last two decades. If the record is confirmed, this will be only the second year in observational records where the UK’s annual mean temperature has exceeded 10.0°C.

 

The UK’s top five warmest years

2025    10.05°C*

2022    10.03°C

2023    9.97°C

2014    9.88°C

2024    9.79°C

*Projected value assuming temperatures 2 degrees Celsius below 1991-2020 December average for remaining days. Final value may differ.  

 

No surprise

Mike Kendon is a senior scientist in the Met Office’s climate information team. He said: “If confirmed at year end this will be the second annual UK temperature record for the UK this decade with the previous being in 2022. This should come as no surprise. Over the last four decades we have seen the UK’s annual temperature rise by around 1.0°C. We will have to wait for the year end before confirming 2025’s final number, but at this stage it looks more likely than not that 2025 will be confirmed as the warmest year on record for the UK.

“However, it will not be long until this record is broken again. Since the start of the 21st Century a new record has been set for UK annual mean temperature no less than six times – in 2002, 2003, 2006, 2014, 2022 and now 2025 (if confirmed) – each record progressively warmer than the last. In terms of our climate, we are living in extraordinary times. The changes we are seeing are unprecedented in observational records back to the 19th Century.”

UK temperature shown throughout the area showing periods of above and below average temperature

The chart above shows periods during 2025 where the mean temperature for the UK has been above average (orange) or below average (blue).

The Met Office’s full provisional analysis of the climate statistics for the UK, UK Countries and regions will be available in the New Year.