Met Office: 2025 was the UK’s hottest and sunniest year on record

The UK experienced its hottest and sunniest year on record in 2025, the Met Office confirmed, calling the result a "clear demonstration" of the impacts of climate change. The United Kingdom's mean temperature for 2025 was 10.09C, beating the previous record of 10.03C set in 2022. The Met Office said 2025 now joins 2022 and 2023 in the top three warmest years since 1884, and it is only the second year in the series to exceed an annual mean of 10.0C.

Sunshine records were also broken: 2025 was the sunniest year since records began in 1910, with 1,648.5 hours of sunshine — 61.4 hours more than the previous record set in 2003. England saw an unprecedented amount of sunshine; it was the second sunniest year in Scotland and Wales and the eighth sunniest in Northern Ireland.

The Met Office said an "exceptional" amount of spring sunshine followed by long spells of clear skies in summer helped set the record. Spring was the driest in more than a century, and summer included four heat waves; every month except January and September was warmer than average.

The persistent dry, sunny conditions led to drought declarations in several regions, reservoir sites falling below 50% of usual capacity and some water companies issuing hosepipe bans.

Key Topics

Science, Met Office, Climate Change, Heat Waves, Drought, Mark Mccarthy