Spring 2024 warmest in the UK on record despite downpours and thunderstorms, Met Office says

Andy Gregory
·2 min read
Spring 2024 saw both the hottest and sixth wettest May on record in Britain (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Spring 2024 saw both the hottest and sixth wettest May on record in Britain (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Spring 2024 was both the UK’s hottest on record and the wettest in nearly 40 years, provisional Met Office figures show.

Across the three months of meteorological spring – March, April and May – the average mean temperature for the UK was 9.37C, beating the previous record of 9.12C set in 2017 – despite Britain seeing far less sunshine than is typical over the same period.

Heat records were also broken in May, which saw an average temperature of 13.1C, surpassing the previous record set in 2008 by a full 1C in archives dating back to 1884.

According to the Met Office, warmer temperatures overnight and in the north of the UK offset the dull and rainy conditions experienced by much of the country last month.

An average of 301.7mm of rain fell in spring, which was nearly a third (32 per cent) more than is typical for the season – making it the sixth wettest on record in data going back to 1836, the Met Office said. The wettest spring on record was in 1979, when the UK experienced an average 327.0mm of rain.

A Met Office spokesperson said: “Higher than average temperatures in March and May, either side of a slightly warmer than average April, means that spring 2024 is the warmest on record according to mean temperature.

“Despite the warmth, sunshine hours during the season were well below average, though not troubling any national records.

“High overnight temperatures through the season have helped to push the mean temperature figure for the season beyond the previous record, while it has also been a wet spring for many.”

It has been the warmest May on record for the UK, according to the Met Office (Danny Lawson/PA)
It has been the warmest May on record for the UK, according to the Met Office (Danny Lawson/PA)

Eight of the top 10 warmest springs have now occurred this century, including the whole of the top five.

The Met Office said the UK’s climate is changing, with recent decades warmer, wetter and sunnier than the 20th century, while natural variation also plays a part in the country’s weather.

The record warmth for the UK comes as the world has experienced a streak of record temperatures, continuing for 11 months in a row up to April 2024, which was the hottest ever recorded, data released last month showed.

Climate change caused by human activities, such as burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests which pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, is pushing up temperatures around the world, and causing more extreme weather such as droughts, heatwaves and intense rainfall.

For the UK in May, Scotland was particularly warm, with a mean temperature of 12.3C, beating 2018’s previous record by 1.6C.

England and Northern Ireland also saw a new record for average temperatures for the month of May, while Wales equalled its highest figure from 2008.

However, the UK saw 17 per cent fewer hours of sunshine than average.

Additional reporting by PA

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