2023 was UK's second warmest on record, says Met Office

The year 2023 was provisionally the UK's second warmest on record, the Met Office national weather service said on Tuesday, pointing to the growing impact of human-induced climate change on the country's average temperatures.

Heatwaves in June and September, as well as above-average temperatures for eight out of 12 months last year contributed to the record, the Met Office said.

"The observations of the UK climate are clear. Climate change is influencing UK temperature records over the long term," Met Office Senior Scientist Mike Kendon said.

The 2023 provisional mean temperature of 9.97 degrees Celsius is just below the 2022 figure of 10.03C and ahead of 2014’s 9.88C, the Met Office said.

(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar; editing by William James)