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Met Office confirms that last month was the warmest June on RECORD thanks to climate change – and warns that the worst is yet to come
- Figures show that the average average temperature in the UK for June was 15.8°C
- Met Office says record-breaking temperatures were fueled by climate change
Last month was officially the warmest June on record, the Met Office has confirmed – with climate change blamed for the scorching temperatures.
Preliminary figures show that the average average temperature in the UK in June was 15.8°C – the highest since June 1940 and June 1976, when the average temperature was 14.9°C.
A quick study by the Met Office found that these record temperatures were fueled by climate change.
Paul Davies, Met Office Climate Extremes Principal Fellow and Chief Meteorologist, said: ‘We found that the probability of observing a June that broke the previous 1940/1976 joint record of 14.9°C has been increasing since the 1940s at least doubled.
“In addition to natural variability, the background warming of the Earth’s atmosphere due to human-induced climate change has increased the possibility of reaching record high temperatures.”
Last month was officially the warmest June on record, the Met Office has confirmed – with climate change blamed for the scorching temperatures. Pictured: Brighton Beach on June 25
Preliminary figures show the average average temperature in the UK for June was 15.8°C – the highest since June 1940 and June 1976 when the average temperature was 14.9°C
That of the UK the average temperature for June 2023 was 15.8°C, the Met Office has confirmed.
This is about 2.5°C higher than the average for June.
Mark McCarthy, a science manager at the Met Office, said: ‘It is officially the warmest June on record for the UK, both for average temperature and for average maximum and minimum temperatures.
June started out with a lot of high pressure and temperatures initially around the average for many, but once that subsided, warm, moist air started to affect temperatures, with the highest being 32.2C.
“What is striking is the continued warmth for much of the month, with temperatures reaching well into the mid-20s for many and sometimes dropping below 30 degrees.”
No less than 72 provinces recorded their warmest June on record, with many temperatures more than 2.5°C above average.
This includes Orkney, Warwickshire, Surrey, Somerset and Cornwall, according to the Met Office.
To understand if these record-breaking temperatures were related to climate change, tThe Met Office used the UK’s climate projections, UKCP18.
Last month was not only the hottest June on record, it was also the sunniest June since 1957 and the fourth sunniest month on record. In addition, rainfall was low for much of the month, with just 52.2mm of rain falling in the UK – 68 per cent of the average for the month
This compared the probability of exceeding the previous record of 14.9°C in the period 1925-1955 with that of 1991-2020.
“Using our UKCP18 climate projections we can also see that there is a difference in the frequency of these types of extremes depending on the emissions scenario we follow going forward,” said Davies.
Worryingly, the results show that things are only getting hotter.
“By the 2050s, the chance of surpassing the previous record of 14.9°C could be as high as 50 percent, or every two years,” explains Davies.
‘After the 2050s, the probability is strongly determined by our greenhouse gas emissions, with the probability increasing further in a high-emissions scenario, but leveling off with mitigation.’
Last month was not only the hottest June on record, it was also the sunniest June since 1957 and the fourth sunniest month on record.
In addition, little rain fell for much of the month, with just 52.2mm of rain falling in the UK – 68 per cent of the average for the month.