Met Office says 40C temperatures 'a sign of things to come' in UK

The hot, dry summer that saw 40C temperatures recorded in the UK for the first time ever with wildfires destroying houses and trees withering in the heat was a “sign of things to come” for the UK’s climate, scientists have said.

Not only was 2022 the hottest year in the UK on the Met Office records which began in 1884 but also on the Central England Temperature record – the longest-running series in the world – that stretches back to 1659.

These milestones for the UK climate show the direction of travel over the coming decades, the Met Office said, adding that as long as people continue to emit greenhouse gases unchecked the Earth will continue to heat up.

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Mike Kendon, climate scientist at the Met Office and lead author of its new report, called State Of The UK Climate 2022, described the 40C mark as “a real moment of climate history”.

He said: “This was a rare event in the context of the current climate but our extremes of temperature are changing faster than our mean temperature and we know that climate change increases the frequency, duration and spatial extent of heat waves.”

On our current emissions trajectory, 2022 would be considered a cool year by the standards of 2100, Mr Kendon added.

Professor Liz Bentley, chief executive of the Royal Meteorological Society, said: “If you look at future climate projections, we are on a path to go for hotter, drier summers.

“So 2022 for me was very much a sign of things to come in future years with our changing climate.”

The Met Office report, which tracks the progress of the UK’s changing climate each year, noted that temperatures are rising above 36C more frequently than in the