UK has warmest spring on record

The UK has had its warmest spring on record - and its driest for 50 years, the Met Office has said.

Provisional figures showed spring temperatures surpassed the long-term average by 1.4C - with a mean temperature of 9.5C (49.1F). That beat the previous warmest spring recorded in 2024.

Temperature records were broken in all four nations in the UK - with 1.64C above the long-term average in Northern Ireland, 1.56C above average in Scotland, 1.39C in Wales and 1.35C in England. In records dating back to 1884, the Met Office said eight of the 10 warmest springs had occurred since 2000 - and the three warmest had been since 2017, in a sign of the changing climate.

Find out the forecast for your area Last week, the Met Office revealed the UK had recorded its sunniest spring on record - with 630 hours of sunshine from 1 March to 27 May, beating 2020's record by four hours. In an update on Monday, the weather forecaster said there had been a total of 653.3 hours of sunshine in March, April and May - 43% above average, and sunnier than all springs since records began in 1910.

"To put this into context, Spring 2025 is now the fourth sunniest season overall for the UK, with only three summers sunnier since 1910," it added. Conditions were also incredibly dry with an average of 128.2mm of rain falling in the UK across March, April and May - the lowest spring total since 1974, which saw 123.2mm.

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," she said.

"The data clearly shows that recent decades have been warmer, sunnier, and often drier than the 20th century average, although natural variation will continue to play a role in the UK's weather." Read more from Sky News:Mount Etna erupts, sending tourists fleeing'One in six species at risk of extinction' in this UK nation It comes after the Met Office warned the UK is set for a hotter than usual summer - with an increased risk of heatwaves over the next three months..