Ten Hottest Years in U.K. History Have All Occurred Since 2002

(Bloomberg) -- Ten of Britain’s hottest years on records dating back to 19th century have all happened since 2002 while none of the 10 coldest years occurred since 1963, according to the Met Office.

The assessment in a 59-page report analyzed temperatures back to 1884 and sharpen the evidence that the nation’s climate is warming substantially. Hotter weather has made extreme weather including droughts, heat waves and torrential rains more frequent.

“Looking back further into the U.K.’s weather reveals a very interesting time-line,” said Mark McCarthy, head of the Met Office’s national climate information center. “It didn’t bring in any new warm years, but it did bring in a number of new cold years, including several that are now within the top 10 coldest years.”

The coldest year on record was 1892 with an average temperature of 7 degrees Celsius while warmest year was 2014 with an average temperature of 10 degrees, according to the weather data. Last year was one of the 10 warmest despite a cold snap from Russia at the start of the year.

Source: Met Office

To contact the reporter on this story: Jesper Starn in Stockholm at jstarn@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net, Andrew Reierson

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