According to the Met Office’s 4th annual State of the UK Climate report, 2017:
- was the 5th warmest year since 1910 and the eighth warmest for Central England in a series from 1659
- saw well below average air frosts, and the number of ground frosts was fourth lowest in a series from 1961
- had average rainfall but with regional differences
- saw growing degree days reach about 10% above average across most of the UK
Nine of the ten warmest years have occurred since 2002. The Central England Temperature series, which goes back to 1659, shows that this century has so far been warmer than the previous three centuries.
Over the last decade (2008-2017)
- average temperature was 0.8 °C warmer
- we’ve seen 8% more rainfall - in particular, UK summers have been notably wetter with a 20% increase in rainfall
- and had 6% more sunshine
compared to the 1961-1990 average.