Met Office issues stark warning over climate change after recording hottest June ever

3 July 2023, 16:47

The Met Office has issued a stark warning over climate change after recording the hottest June ever.

The average mean temperature of 15.8°C for June 2023 in the UK was the highest since records began in 1884, provisional Met Office records showed.

It eclipsed the previous record by 0.9°C but the previous top three Junes were separated by just 0.1°C.

The hottest day last month was June 10 when temperatures soared to a scorching 32.2C in Chertsey, Surrey.

It comes amid warnings that temperatures could rise once again in July, reaching highs of 40C by the end of the month.

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The Met Office's Mark McCarthy, who works in the team responsible for weather and climate records, said: "It's officially the hottest June on record for the UK, for mean temperature as well as average maximum and minimum temperature.

"June started with a good deal of high pressure and temperatures initially around average for many, but once that subsided, warm, humid air began to influence temperatures, with 32.2C the highest temperatures reached.

"What's striking is the persistent warmth for much of the month, with temperatures widely into the mid 20Cs for many and even into the low 30s at times."

It was also the fourth sunniest June on record.

Met Office climate extremes principal fellow and chief meteorologist Paul Davies said: "The background warming of the Earth’s atmosphere due to human induced climate change has driven up the possibility of reaching record high temperatures.

"Using our UKCP18 climate projections, we can also see that there is a difference in the frequency of these sort of extremes depending on the emissions scenario we follow in the future.

"By the 2050s the chance of surpassing the previous record of 14.9°C could be as high as around 50%, or every other year.

"Beyond the 2050s the likelihood is strongly governed by our emissions of greenhouse gasses, with the chance increasing further in a high emissions scenario but levelling off under mitigation."