While many will remember the summer’s extreme heat, 2022 saw relatively consistent heat through the year, with every month except December being warmer than average.
Temperature
All four seasons were in the top 10 warmest on record for the UK. Winter was the eighth warmest, spring the fifth warmest, summer the fourth warmest and autumn the third warmest.
New Year’s Day was the warmest on record according to maximum temperature when 16.3C was recorded at St James’s Park, London.
Temperatures over 40C were recorded in the UK for the first time. Coningsby, Lincolnshire, recorded the highest temperature, with 40.3C. Wales also recorded a new daily maximum temperature record of 37.1C
Rainfall
Summer was the tenth driest on record for the UK, with the south and east of the country especially dry. Some locations in southern and eastern England recorded virtually no rain in July, and by the conclusion of August, the year had been at its driest at that point since 1976.
The south of England had, up to 27 December, received only just over three quarters of the rainfall it would normally expect in a year.
Storms
Storm Eunice led to a new highest maximum gust speed record for England set of 122mph at the Needles on the Isle of Wight.
Sunshine
East Anglia had 20% more sunshine hours than its average, making it the sunniest year on record for the region.
However the first two weeks of December were the coldest since 2010.
Read the full report
2022 provisionally warmest year on record for UK | Met Office
