Weather: Northern Ireland on course for warmest year on record says Met Office

It is also almost certain that the UK record will be broken with the average temperature for the year on track to beat the previous all-time high of 9.88 degrees centigrade set in 2014, provisional data shows.

The Met Office told the News Letter that the average mean temperature for Northern Ireland for the year so far is 9.90 degrees, correct as of today, though this would be expected to drop slightly before the end of the year.

The record annual mean temperature for Northern Ireland is 9.77 degrees in 2007.

The hottest day of the year in the Province was 31.1 degrees centigrade in Derrylin, Co Fermanagh on July 18.

It came close to breaking the overall record which was set the previous July in Castlederg, Co Tyrone when a temperature of 31.3 degrees was recorded.

Dr Mark McCarthy, head of the Met Office National Climate Information Centre, said: “2022 is going to be the warmest year on record for the UK.

“While many will remember the summer’s extreme heat, what has been noteworthy this year has been the relatively consistent heat through the year, with every month except December being warmer than average.

“The warm year is in line with the genuine impacts we expect as a result of human-induced climate change.

“Although it doesn’t mean every year will be the warmest on record, climate change continues to increase the chances of increasingly warm years over the coming decades.”

A sequence of heatwaves starting in June led to the UK experiencing its fourth warmest summer on record, while temperatures broke the 40C mark for the first time, hitting a new record of 40.3C on July 19 at Coningsby in Lincolnshire.

The hot spell in July saw the Met Office issue its first-ever red warning for extreme heat.

Wales saw a new daily maximum temperature of 37.1C, while Scotland hit a new high of 34.8C.

Met Office temperature records for the UK begin in 1884 and show the top 10 years with the highest annual temperature have all occurred this century.

After 2022 and 2014, the next warmest years are 2006, 2020 and 2011.

Separate data held by the Met Office shows 2022 will also be the warmest year on record for central England, based on a 364-year temperature series dating back to 1659.