2023 set to be Britain’s second-hottest year
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Britain's warming trend has been made "significantly more likely" by human-induced climate change, its Met Office said.
PHOTO: AFP
LONDON - 2023 is set to be the United Kingdom’s second-warmest on record, according to provisional figures released on Jan 2, 2024, by the country’s meteorological service.
The average temperature was provisionally higher than in any other year since 1884 except for 2022, continuing a warming trend made “significantly more likely” by human-induced climate change, the Met Office said.
Wales and Northern Ireland, two of the four nations making up the United Kingdom, had their warmest years on record for the second consecutive year, it added.
Meanwhile, 2023 was provisionally the warmest year for the UK for minimum temperature, it said.
“Climate change is influencing UK temperature records over the long term,” Met Office senior scientist Mike Kendon said in a statement.
“While our climate will remain variable, with periods of cold and wet weather, what we have observed over recent decades is a number of high temperature records tumbling. We expect this pattern to continue as our climate continues to change in the coming years as a result of human-induced climate change,” he said.
It comes as communities across the globe reel from extreme weather in recent years, including heatwaves, droughts and wildfires that scientists say are being exacerbated by climate change.
The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said in December that 2023 would be the hottest on record for the world.
The warmth in the UK in 2023 was spearheaded by heatwaves in June and September, while eight of its 12 months saw above-average temperatures.
The provisional mean temperature of 9.97 deg C put 2023 narrowly behind the previous year, when England topped 40 deg C for the first time.
2023 also ranked as the second-warmest for Central England Temperature, the world’s longest instrumental temperature series, which dates back to 1659, the Met Office said.
Greenpeace UK policy director Doug Parr said “climate alarm bells are ringing” and accused British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of having “his fingers in his ears”.
In 2023, Mr Sunak announced the softening of several policies aimed at reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, while permitting new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.
“There is massive voter support for climate action, and you’d think this news would call for an emergency response from the UK government,” Dr Parr said.
He urged Mr Sunak to reverse the decisions and deliver “the kind of bold policies needed to tackle the climate crisis” or risk a legacy of “climate failure”. AFP
