The UK is breaking more heat and rainfall records as its climate warms, according to the Met Office’s latest State of the UK Climate report. The country now sees many more very hot days and

fewer extremely cold nights compared to a few decades ago, driven by global greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2024 alone, the UK recorded its second-warmest February, warmest May, and fifth-warmest winter since records began in 1884 — and some of those records have already been surpassed in 2025.

The country is currently experiencing its third heatwave of the summer, with hosepipe bans and drought declarations in parts of northern England following the warmest June on record. The Met Office says the UK is warming at around 0.25°C per decade, with the last decade over 1.2°C warmer than the 1961–1990 average.

Rainfall is also rising, especially in winter. Between 2015 and 2024, rainfall was 16% higher from October to March compared to the 1961–1990 period. Floods and storms have caused increasing damage, including severe flooding in early 2024 after a string of storms.

Nature is also feeling the impact. Seasonal events like frogspawn and bird nesting are happening earlier, and species such as hedgehogs and dormice struggle when food supplies shift with the weather. At Alice Holt forest, researchers are testing new tree species — like California’s coastal redwoods — better suited to a hotter, wetter UK.

Met Office scientists warn that the country must urgently prepare for more frequent extreme weather and rising sea levels, which are now climbing faster around the UK than the global average. Photo by Richard Knights, Wikimedia commons.