Comment on UK's fifth warmest year

Responding to the announcement by the Met Office today (29 December 2017) that 2017 is likely to be the fifth warmest year for the UK since records began in 1910, Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said:

“These figures are further confirmation that the UK is becoming warmer and wetter as a result of climate change. The UK’s 9 warmest years on record have all occurred from 2000 onwards, a period during which we have also had six of our seven wettest years. Gardeners and farmers across the country can see these impacts through changes in the seasons and impacts on plants and animals. But it is also bringing an increased risk of extreme weather events, such as heavy rainfall and heatwaves. The Office for National Statistics revealed last month that there were hundreds of deaths during the heatwave conditions on 19 June. It is important the Government takes stronger action to protect lives and livelihoods from the impacts of climate change when it publishes its updated National Adaptation Programme next year.”

For more information about this media release please contact Victoria Druce on +44 (0) 20 7107 5865 or v.druce@lse.ac.uk or Bob Ward on +44 (0) 7811 320346 or r.e.ward@lse.ac.uk

Correction: This page was corrected 3/1/2018. Six of the UK’s seven wettest years have occurred since 2000, not five of the six wettest years as previously stated.