June was officially the hottest month since records began due to climate change

The Met Office has confirmed that June was the hottest month since records began and the average mean temperature of 15.8C for the month was the highest since 1884 in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Meteorologists said that this eclipsed the previous record by 0.9C compared to the previous top three temperatures for June were separated by 0.1C.

Paul Davies, Met Office Climate Extremes Principal Fellow and Chief Meteorologist, explained, “We found that the chance of observing a June beating the previous joint 1940/1976 record of 14.9°C has at least doubled since the 1940s. Alongside natural variability, 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.

Paul Davies, Met Office Climate Extremes Principal Fellow and Chief Meteorologist, said, “We found that the chance of observing a June beating the previous joint 1940/1976 record of 14.9°C has at least doubled since the 1940s.

“Alongside natural variability, 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.”

The Met Office said that the North Atlantic, including waters around the British Isles are experiencing record-breaking temperatures of its own in June, which has “played an underlying role in the land-based temperature figures for the UK.

Met Office Scientific Manager Segolene Bethou said, “These settled conditions also contributed to a fast warming of the sea surface around the British Isles: a severe marine heatwave was declared mid-June (NOAA – Category 4).

“Provisional findings from the Met Office suggest this marine heatwave in turn amplified land temperatures even further to the record levels seen during the month.”