The United Kingdom is on course to experience its hottest year since records began, according to the latest analysis from the Met Office. Forecasters have issued a stark warning, stating that the nation is living through "extraordinary" and "unprecedented" climatic times.
Record-Breaking Temperatures Confirmed
As of late December 2025, the provisional average annual temperature for the UK stands at 10.05°C. This figure narrowly exceeds the previous record of 10.03°C, which was set just three years earlier in 2022. While a forecasted cold spell over the Christmas period means the final number is not yet confirmed, scientists say it is "more likely than not" that 2025 will take the top spot.
If confirmed, this will mark only the second occasion in observational history that the UK's annual mean temperature has breached the 10°C threshold. The data reveals a rapid warming trend, with four of the last five years now ranking among the top five warmest since records started in 1884. Notably, every single one of the top 10 warmest years has occurred within the last two decades.
A Decade of Shattered Records
Mike Kendon, a senior scientist in the Met Office’s climate information team, emphasised the accelerating pace of change. "If confirmed at year end this will be the second annual UK temperature record for the UK this decade with the previous being in 2022," he stated. "This should come as no surprise."
Kendon highlighted that the UK's annual temperature has risen by approximately 1.0°C over the last forty years. He also pointed out that since the turn of the 21st century, the national annual mean temperature record has been broken six times: in 2002, 2003, 2006, 2014, 2022, and now likely in 2025. Each new record has been progressively warmer than the last.
"In terms of our climate, we are living in extraordinary times," Kendon concluded. "The changes we are seeing are unprecedented in observational records back to the 19th Century."
Expert Warnings and the Call for Action
The record-setting trajectory has been driven by a notably hot summer, which included three separate heatwaves and saw parts of the country battling wildfires, alongside persistently mild temperatures throughout much of the year.
Reacting to the findings, Professor Friederike Otto, a leading climate science expert, described them as both "devastating and utterly unsurprising." She explained, "10C might not sound very warm, but it is an average and means much higher temperatures in the summer. High temperatures that would have never been possible are now common and that is not good news."
The implications for policy are clear. Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics, said the data provided further evidence of the impacts of climate change in the UK. He stressed "the urgent need for us to stop warming by leading the world in reaching net zero emissions of greenhouse gases as soon as possible."
The Met Office's provisional assessment serves as a powerful reminder that the records being set today are not endpoints, but milestones on a continuing upward trend. As Kendon cautioned, "it will not be long until this record is broken again."
