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Climate Change UK Weather Reports Jet Stream Flooding Air Quality Atlantic Ocean

February began with rain across western Scotland and Northern Ireland, before the weather turned more settled. A blocking high pressure system to the east of the UK led to overcast but settled conditions for the next few weeks, with below average temperatures and some scattered showers. Occasional frontal systems brought rain, sometimes wintry over high ground. Scotland saw some snow and freezing rain on the 18th, before the blocking high started moving away around the 19th. The weather turned more unsettled as a low pressure system to the west of the UK moved towards Iceland. This led to frontal systems bringing heavy rain to much of the country, and coastal gales in northern areas. Temperatures also rose to above average as the cold easterly weather regime shifted to milder westerly conditions. Frontal systems brought particularly heavy rain to Wales and western parts of England and Scotland on the 23rd, leading to some flooding. The end of the month saw building high pressure, resulting in more settled conditions as well as widespread frost and some foggy conditions.  


UK Met Office February 2025 climate summary


The global surface temperature was 1.26°C (2.27°F) above the 20th-century average of 12.1°C (53.8°F), making it the third warmest February on record. This is 0.15°C (0.27°F) below the previous record set in 2024 and marked the 46th-consecutive February (since 1980) with temperatures at least nominally above the 20th-century average. It was the fourth warmest February for the global land air temperature and the second warmest February for the global ocean surface temperature. Global temperatures have cooled in recent months as a La Niña episode, the cold phase of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) developed. Global temperatures tend to be cooler during periods of La Niña in comparison to periods with an El Niño present. According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center's February 13 ENSO Diagnostic Discussion, La Niña conditions were present and are expected to persist in the near-term, with a transition to ENSO-neutral likely during March-May 2025 (66% chance). The Northern Hemisphere had its fourth warmest February on record at 1.61°C (2.90°F) above average. Record warm temperatures were widespread in the Arctic, with temperatures in many areas more than 8°C (14°F) above average. In Norway, the national average temperature was 2.1°C (3.78°F) above normal, making it the 17th-warmest February in a measurement series dating to 1901. The Caribbean Islands region had its warmest February on record, 1.16°C (2.09°F) above average, which is 0.06°C (0.11°F) more than the previous record-warm February of 2020. The December 2024–February 2025 global surface temperature was the second-warmest in the 176-year record, 1.29°C (2.32°F) above the 20th-century average of 12.1°C (53.8°F). The ten warmest December–February seasons have all occurred in the eleven-year period since 2015.


In the United Kingdom February was 0.5°C (0.9°F) above the 1991–2020 average. Northern Ireland was notably warm, with temperatures 0.9°C (1.6°F) above average, based on provisional data.



Click here to see the February 2025 NOAA Climate Report  


 










UK Climate Forecast  38 Union Street  Grantham  Lincolnshire  NG31 6NZ  


Ocean temperatures are off the charts right now and scientists are alarmed


One major driver of the heat is believed to be an approaching – and potentially strong – El Niño, a natural climate fluctuation associated with warming in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, which has a global heating effect.

February 2024 was the warmest February in England and Wales since records began in 1884. The mean temperature across the whole of the UK was 6.3C (43.3F), the second warmest February for the whole country since the last record of 6.8C (44.2F) was set in 1998. The south of England also had its wettest February in a time series dating back to 1836, with much of the region experiencing more than twice the average rainfall. Average rainfall across the UK was 139.8mm which falls just outside the top 10 wettest Februarys on record. The highest amount of February rainfall ever was 213.7mm in 2020. East Anglia broke records on both fronts having had its warmest and wettest February on record. The area saw 106.4mm of rain throughout February and had a mean temperature of 8.2C (46.8F).

State of the UK Climate Report 2023

Published 25 July 2024



Climate change indicators reached record

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National climate action plans remain insufficient to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

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First Quarter UN Climate Change Report 2024



Climate Analysis


The goal of climate analysis is to better understand the Earth’s past and present climate, and to predict future climate response to changes in natural and human-induced factors, such as the Sun, greenhouse gases (e.g., water vapour, carbon dioxide and methane), and aerosols (e.g., from dust storms, pollution, fires, sea spray or volcanic eruptions). Climate analysis studies are routinely carried out using a mix of data from diverse sources including historical climate data, current and past satellite instruments, field campaigns, and outputs from regional and global numerical models. A climatic data element is a measured parameter which helps to specify the climate of a specific location or region, such as precipitation, temperature, wind speed and humidity.




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WMO State of Global Climate 2024

Published 19 March 2025