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UK's spring was warmest on record, Met Office says

Emma Rossiter
BBC News
Darren Bett
BBC Weather
PA Media A woman photographs cherry blossom trees on a warm spring day in Battersea Park, LondonPA Media
It was also the sunniest spring on record for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and second sunniest for England

The UK has recorded its warmest spring on record and its driest in more than 50 years, provisional Met Office figures show.

It was also the sunniest spring on record for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and the second sunniest in England since the amount of hours of sunshine began to be recorded in 1910.

Spring is the fastest-warming season in the UK, with the average temperature having increased by 1.8C since 1970.

Eight of the ten warmest UK springs have occurred since 2000, and the three warmest springs have all occurred since 2017, which the Met Office said is a sign of our changing climate.

All four UK nations recorded their warmest spring for mean temperature since it first began to be recorded in 1884, suring the previous record in 2024.

Even with the severe storms that battered a few parts of England, it was also the driest March on record, with most of the UK - minus the north of Scotland - experiencing sunnier conditions than normal.

April saw the UK a record number of hours of sunshine, and by mid-May the country was experiencing its driest spring in more than 100 years.

But a wetter and windier change in weather at the end of the month averted what could have been the driest spring on record.

It still ended up being the driest spring since 1974 - and the sixth driest on record for the UK as a whole - with the country receiving only just over half the expected rainfall.

June now looks set to continue that pattern, with the Met Office predicting that the UK is likely to experience a hotter-than-normal summer with an increased chance for heatwaves.

According to its most recent three-month outlook, the meteorological summer - which runs from 1 June to 31 August - is twice as likely to be hotter than normal in 2025.

There's no indication that any particular weather pattern will drive the warmth, but the Met Office said the warming is being largely brought about by human-induced climate change.

Met Office scientist Emily Carlisle said: "The UK's climate continues to change.

"This spring shows some of the changes we're seeing in our weather patterns, with more extreme conditions, including prolonged dry, sunny weather, becoming more frequent."