The highest average temperature recorded in 2024 until November was in August, at 16.8 degrees Celsius. Since 2015, the highest average daily temperature in the UK was registered in July 2018, at 18.7 degrees Celsius. The summer of 2018 was the joint hottest since institutions began recording temperatures in 1910. One noticeable anomaly during this period was in December 2015, when the average daily temperature reached 9.5 degrees Celsius. This month also experienced the highest monthly rainfall in the UK since before 2014, with England, Wales, and Scotland suffering widespread flooding. Daily hours of sunshine Unsurprisingly, the heat wave that spread across the British Isles in 2018 was the result of particularly sunny weather. July 2018 saw an average of 8.7 daily sun hours in the United Kingdom. This was more hours of sun than was recorded in July 2024, which only saw 5.8 hours of sun. Temperatures are on the rise Since the 1960s, there has been an increase in regional temperatures across the UK. Between 1961 and 1990, temperatures in England averaged nine degrees Celsius, and from 2013 to 2022, average temperatures in the country had increased to 10.3 degrees Celsius. Due to its relatively southern location, England continues to rank as the warmest country in the UK.

England's highest monthly mean air temperatures are typically recorded in July and August of each year. Since 2015, the warmest mean temperature was measured in July 2018 at 18.8 degrees Celsius. On the other hand, February of that same year registered the coolest temperature, at 2.6 degrees Celsius. In April 2025, the mean air temperature was 10.3 degrees Celsius, slightly higher than the same month the previous year. The English weather England is the warmest region in the United Kingdom and the driest. In 2024, the average annual temperature in England amounted to 10.73 degrees Celsius – around 1.1 degrees above the national mean. That same year, precipitation in England stood at about 1,020 millimeters. By contrast, Scotland – the wettest region in the UK – recorded over 1,500 millimeters of rainfall in 2024. Temperatures on the rise Throughout the last decades, the average temperature in the United Kingdom has seen an upward trend, reaching a record high in 2022. Global temperatures have experienced a similar pattern over the same period. This gradual increase in the Earth's average temperature is primarily due to various human activities, such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation, which lead to the emission of greenhouse gases. This phenomenon has severe consequences, including more frequent and intense weather events, rising sea levels, and adverse effects on human health and the environment.

Since January 2015, the highest maximum monthly temperature in England was measured in July 2018, at 24.8 degrees Celsius. July temperatures declined in the following years, and measured 20.6 degrees Celsius in 2024. Further information about the weather in the United Kingdom can be found here.

Licence information and source

The MET Office copyright policy can be found at: [https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/legal#licences] Data source from: [https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/historic-station-data]

Cover image: [https://pixabay.com/photos/scarborough-sunrise-seascape-2850597/]

The UK daily temperature data contain maximum and minimum temperatures (air, grass and concrete slab) measured over a period of up to 24 hours. The measurements were recorded by observation stations operated by the Met Office across the UK and transmitted within NCM, DLY3208 or AWSDLY messages. The data span from 1853 to 2023. For details on measurement techniques, including calibration information and changes in measurements, see section 5.2 of the MIDAS User Guide linked to from this record. Soil temperature data may be found in the UK soil temperature datasets linked from this record.

This version supersedes the previous version of this dataset and a change log is available in the archive, and in the linked documentation for this record, detailing the differences between this version and the previous version. The change logs detail new, replaced and removed data. These include the addition of data for calendar year 2023.

This dataset is part of the Midas-open dataset collection made available by the Met Office under the UK Open Government Licence, containing only UK mainland land surface observations owned or operated by the Met Office. It is a subset of the fuller, restricted Met Office Integrated Data Archive System (MIDAS) Land and Marine Surface Stations dataset, also available through the Centre for Environmental Data Analysis - see the related dataset section on this record. Currently this represents approximately 95% of available daily temperature observations within the full MIDAS collection.

The annual mean temperature in the United Kingdom has fluctuated greatly since 1990. Temperatures during this period were at their highest in 2022, surpassing ** degrees Celsius. In 2010, the mean annual temperature stood at **** degrees, the lowest recorded during this time. Daily temperatures Average daily temperatures have remained stable since the turn of the century, rarely dropping below ** degrees Celsius. In 2010, they dropped to a low of **** degrees Celsius. The peak average daily temperature was recorded in 2022 when it reached **** degrees. This was an increase of *** degree Celsius compared to the long-term mean, and the most positive deviation during the period of consideration. Highs and lows The maximum average temperature recorded across the UK since 2015 was in July 2018. This month saw a maximum temperature of **** degrees Celsius. In comparison, the lowest monthly minimum temperature was in February of the same year, at just minus *** degrees. This was an especially cold February, as the previous year the minimum temperature for this month was *** degrees.

Misc Covers, Masthead, High-Resolution Scans of Monthly Weather Review

The monthly mean temperature in the United Kingdom is typically highest in July and August. During this period, the monthly mean temperature peaked in July 2018, at *****degrees Celsius. In April 2025, the UK recorded a mean temperature of *** degrees Celsius, slightly higher than the temperature recorded the same month a year prior.

Excel spreadsheet used to tabulate the total number of pages published each volumeExcel spreadsheet used to determine for which issues Cleveland Abbe had been listed as editorExcel spreadsheet used to determine which issues included some version of the "Notes by the Editor" departmentWord document with excerpts from issues of Weather Bureau Topics and Personnel / Weather Bureau Topics / Topics containing mention of MWR

The longest available instrumental record of temperature in the world is now available at the BADC. The monthly data starts in 1659.

The mean, minimum and maximum datasets are updated monthly, with data for a month usually available by the 3rd of the next month. A provisional CET value for the current month is calculated on a daily basis. The mean monthly data series begins in 1659. Mean maximum and minimum daily and monthly data are also available, beginning in 1878.

These historical temperature series are representative of the Midlands region in England, UK (a roughly triangular area of the United Kingdom enclosed by Bristol, Lancashire and London).

The following stations are used by the Met Office to compile the CET data: Rothamsted, Malvern, Squires Gate and Ringway.

But in November 2004, the weather station Stonyhurst replaced Ringway and revised urban warming and bias adjustments have now been applied to the Stonyhurst data after a period of reduced reliability from the station in the summer months.

The data set is compiled by the Met Office Hadley Centre.

The Central England Temperature (HadCET) monthly series start in 1659 for mean temperature and 1878 for minimum and maximum temperature.

These historical temperature series are representative of the Midlands region in England, UK (a roughly triangular area of the United Kingdom enclosed by Bristol, Lancashire and London).

The monthly temperature series are derived as the mean of the daily temperature series values.

For mean temperature, the monthly values from 1659 to 1771 are derived directly from Gordon Manley's monthly mean values.

Stations used in the construction of the CET daily series between 1772 and 1852 include: Kennington, Crane Court, Lyndon Hall, Syon House, Somerset House, Greenwich Observatory, Chiswick

Stations used in the construction of the CET daily series from 1853 onwards include: Radcliffe (Oxford), Cambridge (legacy), Ross-on-Wye, Rothamsted, Malvern, Stonyhurst, Ringway, Squires Gate, Pershore College

The current station selection used is Rothamsted, Stonyhurst and Pershore College.

The dataset is compiled by the Met Office Hadley Centre.

Latest provisional release data are available via the Hadley Centre Observations website (https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadcet/data/download.html).

The version controlled CET series is updated annually (February-March), with the previous complete year’s values refreshed to ensure that data acquisition and quality control procedures have been completed and ensure the most accurate station temperature values are used. Each version of the dataset will include data up until the end of the previous complete year and an incremental version number will be updated.

The CET datasets employ the following version control protocol:

Version Vx.y.z.a: • x – major changes – e.g. change in scientific methodology • y – minor changes – e.g. small bug fixes or updates to diagnostics pages • z – incremental changes • a – reserved for use internally

The standard annual release cycle of CET will constitute an incremental release (z). However, if more substantial changes have been made to the codebase, scientific methodology or source data values, then this may warrant a minor (y) or major (x) version release. (Note, these are applied to a cohort of datasets together - i.e. apply to the seasonal, monthly, daily and adjustment datasets as a coordinated version release).

This new version of the datasets supersedes the previous version.

The lowest average minimum temperature recorded in England since 2015 was in February 2018, when temperatures dropped to -0.4 degrees Celsius. In comparison, in February 2025 the temperature was 2.2 degrees Celsius.Further information about the weather in the United Kingdom can be found here.

The longest available instrumental record of temperature in the world is now available at the BADC. The daily data starts in 1772.

The mean, minimum and maximum datasets are updated monthly, with data for a month usually available by the 3rd of the next month. A provisional CET value for the current month is calculated on a daily basis. The mean daily data series begins in 1772. Mean maximum and minimum daily and monthly data are also available, beginning in 1878. Yearly files are provided from 1998 onwards.

These historical temperature series are representative of the Midlands region in England, UK (a roughly triangular area of the United Kingdom enclosed by Bristol, Lancashire and London).

The following stations are used by the Met Office to compile the CET data: Rothamsted, Malvern, Squires Gate and Ringway.

But in November 2004, the weather station Stonyhurst replaced Ringway and revised urban warming and bias adjustments have now been applied to the Stonyhurst data after a period of reduced reliability from the station in the summer months.

The data set is compiled by the Met Office Hadley Centre.

Monthly average air temperatures of the city of Barcelona since 1780. The temperature is provided in Celsius (ºC).

This dataset contains UK Met Office Daily Weather Reports (DWR) from ten sites from the UK Met Office Monthly Weather Records (1884-1993), using the recently-scanned UK Met Office Monthly Weather Reports (MWR). The data are presented as is, with no attempt to provide any corrections or calibration. Approximately half the stations exhibit sharp drops in thunderdays at various points between 1960 and 1990. Comparison with nearby Met Office Integrated Data Archive System (MIDAS) stations suggests the low thunderdays are the result of changes in observing practice, rather than genuine changes in thunderstorm occurrence. These potential data issues limit interpretation of the long-term trends.

DWR contain extensive logs of UK thunderstorm activity, in the form of thunderday observations. To date, only a very small fraction of these data have been digitised as part of the MIDAS dataset, and exclusively after 1950.

What does the data show?

This data shows monthly averages of surface temperature (°C) for 2050-2079 from the UKCP18 regional climate projections. The data is for the high emissions scenario (RCP8.5).

Limitations of the data

We recommend the use of multiple grid cells or an average of grid cells around a point of interest to help users get a sense of the variability in the area. This will provide a more robust set of values for informing decisions based on the data.

What are the naming conventions and how do I explore the data?

This data contains a field for the average over the period. They are named 'tas' (temperature at surface), the month, and 'upper' 'median' or 'lower'. E.g. 'tas July Median' is the median value for July.

To understand how to explore the data, see this page: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/457e7a2bc73e40b089fac0e47c63a578

Please note, if viewing in ArcGIS Map Viewer, the map will default to ‘tas January Median’ values.

What do the ‘median’, ‘upper’, and ‘lower’ values mean?

Climate models are numerical representations of the climate system. To capture uncertainty in projections for the future, an ensemble, or group, of climate models are run. Each ensemble member has slightly different starting conditions or model set-ups. Considering all of the model outcomes gives users a range of plausible conditions which could occur in the future.

For this dataset, the model projections consist of 12 separate ensemble members. To select which ensemble members to use, the monthly averages of temperature for 2050-2079 were calculated for each ensemble member and they were then ranked in order from lowest to highest for each location.

The ‘lower’ fields are the second lowest ranked ensemble member. The ‘upper’ fields are the second highest ranked ensemble member. The ‘median’ field is the central value of the ensemble.

This gives a median value, and a spread of the ensemble members indicating the range of possible outcomes in the projections. This spread of outputs can be used to infer the uncertainty in the projections. The larger the difference between the lower and upper fields, the greater the uncertainty.

Data source

tas_rcp85_land-rcm_uk_12km_12_mon-30y_200912-207911.nc (median)

tas_rcp85_land-rcm_uk_12km_05_mon-30y_200912-207911.nc (lower)

tas_rcp85_land-rcm_uk_12km_04_mon-30y_200912-207911.nc (upper)

UKCP18 v20190731 (downloaded 04/11/2021)

Useful links

Further information on the UK Climate Projections (UKCP). Further information on understanding climate data within the Met Office Climate Data Portal

Monthly Historical information for 37 UK Meteorological Stations. Most go back to the early 1900s, but some go back as far as 1853.

Data includes:

• Mean maximum temperature (tmax)
• Mean minimum temperature (tmin)
• Days of air frost (af)
• Total rainfall (rain)
• Total sunshine duration (sun)

Station data files are updated on a rolling monthly basis, around 10 days after the end of the month. Data are indicated as provisional until the full network quality control has been carried out. After this, data are final.

No allowances have been made for small site changes and developments in instrumentation.

Data and statistics for other stations, and associated charges, can be obtained by contacting our Customer Centre.

Analysis of ‘UK weather by month’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from https://www.kaggle.com/tombutton/uk-weather-by-month on 28 January 2022.

--- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

Licence information and source

The MET Office copyright policy can be found at: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/legal#licences Data source from: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/historic-station-data

--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

What does the data show?

The data shows monthly averages of daily maximum surface temperature (°C) for 1991-2020 from HadUK gridded data. It is provided on a 12km British National Grid (BNG).

Limitations of the data

We recommend the use of multiple grid cells or an average of grid cells around a point of interest to help users get a sense of the variability in the area. This will provide a more robust set of values for informing decisions based on the data.What are the naming conventions and how do I explore the data?

This data contains a field for each month’s average over the period. They are named 'tmax' (temperature maximum) and the month. E.g. 'tmax March' is the maximum surface temperature for March in the period 1991-2020.

To understand how to explore the data, see this page: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/457e7a2bc73e40b089fac0e47c63a578

Please note, if viewing in ArcGIS Map Viewer, the map will default to ‘tmax January’ values.

Data source: 

·
Version: HadUK-Grid v1.1.0.0 (downloaded 26/08/2022)

·
Source: https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/652cea3b8b4446f7bff73be0ce99ba0f

·
Filename: tasmax_hadukgrid_uk_12km_mon-30y_199101-202012.nc

Useful links

·
Further information on HadUK-Grid

·
Further information on understanding climate data within the Met Office Climate Data Portal